


Blue Rooms and Golden Butterflies

by HanaHimus



Category: Persona 2, Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona | Revelations Persona
Genre: AU where Naoya is the friend who takes in Ren, Also (takes persona canon endings and shoves them through paper shredders) perfect, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Just a oneshot to get the basic idea out, P3 is finally here, Plans changed its at least a 2-shot now. possibly more depending on reception, References to past games ahoy, Retelling, Shockingly P3 hasn't shown up yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-02-20 06:24:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 36,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13140927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HanaHimus/pseuds/HanaHimus
Summary: Ren Amamiya isn't happy about his probation, with seemingly supernatural things happening at least twice his first day in Tokyo... But at least his guardian seems alright.





	1. First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Wanted to practice using Ren's name more. I know almost everyone hates the name, but... I honestly like it a lot haha. But you know, to each their own and all that good stuff
> 
> Anyway, basic idea for an AU that I wanted to write a oneshot for. If I continued this it'd become Self Indulgent as hell and probably involve all the games. So it's a oneshot so I don't fuck over canon more than this fic already does.
> 
> ANYWAY, hope you enjoy.

Ren Amamiya awoke with the start, still sitting on the train travelling towards Tokyo. Everyone was focused on themselves as a voice came over the intercom, telling of the soon-to-be arrival in Shibuya and the end of the line… Looked like it was about time for him to transfer to the next line. Meaning… He’d be getting to his new home for the year.

That was right… A new home all because of one little action he took. The woman, being pushed and pulled by that man, her cry for help, the anger that’d welled up inside of him… The way he’d pushed it down, only for the drunk to fall himself and blame him. The police and following legal charges…

Everytime Ren thought back on it, he just got upset again.

“What, are you for real? A mental shutdown?” He looked up, ready for a distraction, and saw two girls talking.

“It’s the truth!”

“To a person, though?” The first girl spoke again with a laugh. “That’s gotta be a joke! You really love all that occult stuff, don’t you?”

They both giggled and Ren realized the conversation was over. No more eavesdropping to ignore his feelings, then. Maybe he’d be able to block out everything while he sat tight and waited. Not much longer until he could get off and focus on transferring lines, at the very least.

He got off the train quietly when it came time, looking down to his phone for the navigation. Ren walked along quietly, doing his best not to peek around. If he did that he might get himself into more trouble and earn another verbal lashing from his parents…

He finally looked up when he was sure he was in the middle of the square. Shibuya was… Big, a lot bigger than the pictures and tales had prepared him for. Was he really going to be okay in all of this? His mother and father had said he’d be fine, but…

His phone made a noise and he looked down. Was the app telling him it was time to make a turn or something…?

Ren froze for a second when he realized there was an icon on top of the map app. What in the world was this? Was it a prank of some sort? Did he have malware on his phone…? He was pretty sure it was malware, since it grew out of nowhere after he looked for just a few seconds.

Well shit, that wasn’t good. There was no way Ren’s parents would get him a new one and with how little he knew about his new caretaker… Well, he just had to hope tapping it would make it go away long enough that he could fix it. Whatever it was.

He looked up when it sounded like a man’s words slowed to a stop, only to see the busy intersection come to a complete standstill. Not the people all ceasing movement, but all becoming frozen in place. There was no sound, no movement… He was the only one not frozen in time.

Was he having some sort of episode of panic due to the move? He looked around, looking for a sign that this was all fake. Ren knew there had to be a sign somewhere. Too bad for him, the sign seemed to be fire in the center of everything.

The flame shaped itself into a humanoid form as Ren stared, the form bursting as wings appeared. He couldn’t take his eyes off it as eerie eyes and a smile turned into his own face, grinning at him. His eyes golden.

...And then it was gone, everyone was moving again and he was standing there. Looking like a total fool. Had it really all been in his head, then…? He looked back to his phone and saw that, if nothing else, that app or whatever was real. Not having the patience to deal with it, however, he just drug it to the trash and started on his way.

This was already shaping up to be a horrible year.

\--

Ren was happy when he got off the last train he had to ride that day. Now all he had to do was find the right apartment and meet his new caretaker. What kind of person was Naoya Toudou? He hoped someone agreeable, at the very least…

Making his way out of the station, he frowned. The neighborhood… Wasn’t exactly the prettiest thing he’d ever seen. But it would work. At least the apartments he was looking for were close to the station…? So less interaction with the scarier parts of the area (he hoped)

Stepping into the building, he opened the text from his mother. Room 197, huh? He’d have to find the apartment, knock on the door, and wait for an answer… Well, he was already starting to expect Naoya Toudou to be the kind of person he didn’t like. Great.

“Well, here I go…” He walked down the hall, reading each number carefully. 

Soon enough, the right apartment was in front of him and he was knocking. Maybe he would be lucky and Naoya wouldn’t be there. It’d give him more time to prepare something to say to him, at the very least…

“Hello?” Dammit. The door opened and there stood a man, an earring hanging from one ear. “Oh, are you Ren Amamiya-kun?”

“Ah yeah, it’s nice to meet you…” He nodded at him, shifting uncomfortably under Naoya’s gaze. “Um…”

“You don’t look like a delinquent to me...” Naoya shook his head. “Well, it’s none of my business. Your parents just asked me to keep an eye on you for the next year. Make sure you go to school and all of that.”

“Yeah, I know.” Ren sighed. He had heard it plenty of times already and he didn’t need to hear it again.

“Grumpy, aren’t we?” Naoya just stepped to the side. “Well, come on in, I’ll show you to your room.”

Ren nodded as he stepped in, looking around. It wasn’t the best, just like the neighborhood… But beggars can’t be choosers, right? That was how he’d think about it, at least. “So, this is a two bedroom apartment?”

“Yep, two bed and one bath. Sorry to say but you’ll have to share in the morning.” Naoya closed the door and started down the hall. He came to a stop in front of the second door on the right and pointed. “Here it is. Your things from your parents are already here… You’ll have some time to unpack, if you’d like.”

Ren nodded, moving next to him and pushing the door open. It was… small and kind of dusty. “Do you have a duster?”

“One second…” Naoya sighed and moved down the hall to what seemed to be a broom closet. “Where…? Oh, there it is.”

The duster was shoved into Ren’s hand and Naoya gave him a small smile. “I’ll leave you to it and check on you in a few hours, Amamiya-kun.”

“...Thank you, Toudou-san.”

“Mhmm, we’ll talk more later… I feel like I’m forgetting something and need to think on it.”

Ren rose an eyebrow as Naoya walked away. “Okay…?”

 

\--

 

Ren had been lying in bed for a while now. Naoya had mentioned they’d be going to his school, Shujin, the next day to get everything set up. Then he had to finish off with a mention of keeping his head down from now on, which made him think about the assault he stopped…

Only to be charged with assault.

“I was doing the right thing…” He closed his eyes, trying to fight off the thoughts. “The right thing…”

He jumped a bit when his phone went off. Who was messaging him at this time of night…? His mom and dad didn’t seem likely and Naoya was asleep in the other room… There was no one who should be messaging him.

“This better be good…” He pulled the phone out of his pocket and frowned. It was that app from earlier.

Huh, the icon really did look like an eye, the more he looked at it. But… Hadn’t he already deleted it? Was it really malware? Well dammit, he’d forgotten to look into it already. One more delete and he’d deal with it in the morning…

He threw the phone to the side and let his eyes close. He was tired… No, not tired. He was exhausted. What had Ren done to deserve this…? Oh well, he shouldn’t think on that now. He’d just let the sweet embrace of sleep take him…

Only for him to begin dreaming of chains and a room of blue.

He woke up with a start, hearing the sound of chains jangling and he moved. Wait… Were they attached to him? They were, his hands were bound by some sort of chain… He sat up with a groan, where was he? Was Naoya secretly some sort of criminal who sold him out?

Ren sat up fully, knowing he had to the get to the bottom of it. There was no way he could just leave this was it was… Even though he felt like he had a splitting headache in that moment. Ow…

He heard a laugh that had to belong to a child and he looked towards it. Before him were two girls, dressed as if they were wardens. They had silver hair, golden eyes, and their clothes were all black and blue… It would’ve seemed odd if he wasn’t sitting in a blue jail cell.

The girls stared at him as he stood and made his way for the bars, moving ever so slightly as he did. What was with them…? He only stopped looking when he noticed the ball and chain attached to him, too.

No, he needed to focus. With a final push, he made it to the bars, holding them tightly in his grasp as the girls stepped to the sides to reveal a man. A man with bloodshot eyes and an impossibly long nose…

“Trickster, welcome to my Velvet Room.”

“So you’ve come to, Inmate.” The little girl with buns in her hair barked this at him, a grin on her face.

“The you in reality is currently fast asleep.” The other girl spoke, her tone more even than the other’s. “You are only experiencing this as a dream.”

The first girl frowned at him. “You’re in the presence of our master. Stand up straight!”

Ren looked up at the man who had to be the master as the same deep voice from before bellowed out. “Welcome. I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter.”

What in the…? Ren couldn’t even ask a question before the man continued.

“It is a room only those who are bound by a “contract” may enter. I am Igor, the master of this place. Remember it well.” He tapped his hand against the desk as he spoke. “I summoned you to speak of important matters. It involved your life as well.”

“Let me out…!” He shook the bars, terrified of this nightmare already. He didn’t care if it involved his life, he just wanted to wake up…!

“Know your place, Inmate! Who do you think you’re talking to?!” The girl with the buns slammed her baton into the cell door, making Ren jump back at the electric charge it made. What in the hell?

“Still, this is a surprise…” Igor went on as if he hadn’t noticed Ren’s or the girl’s outbursts. “The state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison would appear as such.”

A prison… The state of Ren’s heart…

“You truly are a “prisoner” of fate.” Ren moved forward, gripping the bars again as Igor talked. “In the near future,there is no mistake that ruin awaits you.”

“Are you kidding me?” Ren could hear his voice crack as he asked. This nightmare was running him more ragged than he had already been.

Igor laughed. “Worry not. There is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be “rehabilitated.” Rehabilitated toward freedom... That is your only means to avoid ruin…”

“Avoid ruin…” Ruin like the shit luck he’d had trying to protect that woman?

“Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?”

“I’d… Rather avoid ruin after what’s happened already.” He closed an eye, trying to think straight. Why was it getting harder to do the longer he was here…?

Igor seemed pleased with that answer. “Allow me to observe the path of your rehabilitation.”

The girls on either side turned to look at Ren, their eyes still glowing that weird golden color.

“Ah, pardon me for not introducing the others. To your right is Caroline; to your left, Justine. They serve as wardens here.” So that’s why they were dressed like that…

“Hmph, try and struggle as hard as you like.”

“The duty of wardens is to protect inmates. We are also your collaborators.” Justine paused. “...That is, if you remain obedient.”

“I shall explain the role of these two on another occasion.” Igor grabbed Ren’s attention again as the girls turned to face him. “Now then, it seems the night is waning… It is almost time. Take your time to slowly come to understand this place. We will surely meet again, eventually…”

With one movement of Igor’s hand, a bell began to go off above Ren. “What…?”

“Time’s up!” Caroline looked at Ren again. “Now hurry up and go back to sleep.”

Ren reached for the bars again… Only for everything to go black and for him to startle awake in bed.

“What time is it…?”

He looked at his phone and groaned. Three in the morning… Maybe he would wash his face to try and forget that dream.

Ren dragged himself out of bed, grumbling as he made for the bathroom. First day in a new place and he was already chock full of weird nightmares. It was just his luck… Maybe he was the unluckiest person in the world. It seemed possible at this point.

Opening the door to the bathroom, he jumped back. Naoya was already washing his face, leaning over the sink as clinging to it for dear life. Had he had the same nightmare, maybe? It would make it creepier, but at the same time then Ren wouldn’t be alone…

“Toudou-san, did you have a bad dream too?”

Naoya looked at him, water from the sink running down his face. “Not… A bad dream, really. But a weird one.”

“Really?” Maybe Ren could take his mind off things is he asked more. “What was it about?”

Naoya looked at Ren and then at his own reflection. “...A golden butterfly.”


	2. The School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter for this because... I had a lot of ideas and had to write some of it down. At this point, I could do a total retelling of P5 - only with P1/2/3/4 being more important and prominent in the story. More than just cameos and all that.
> 
> Also, not tagging villains/characters who are Confidant only so I'll not when they appear at the start of chapters (if this goes on)
> 
> This chapter: Kobayakawa, Kamoshida, SIU Director

Ren was able to get a little more sleep after all that, this time without any sort of blue room. When he saw Naoya walk into his room the next morning, however, he was pretty sure it wasn’t a shared experience. His guardian of the year looked so tired, bags under his eyes and his hair a mess.

“I didn’t have time to cover this all up…” Naoya groaned and ran a hand down his face. “No time, we need to get headed towards Shujin…”

“...Do we have to?” Ren frowned, crossing his arms. He wasn’t sure it was a good idea.

“Yes, we have to! You need to properly introduce yourself, make sure the staff is in the know about your transfer…” Naoya let out a yawn. “You’ll be going to school in the Aoyama District… Remember that, because you’ll have to ride the train after today. I’m too busy in the morning to take you every day…”

“Will I have to use my own money for the train?” Ren wasn’t sure he was that keen on the idea of using his money every day.

“I’ll give you some at the start of every month. Enough to come and go from school plus a little.” Naoya yawned again. “You use the train too much and you’ll have to use your own money.”

“Got it.”

“Well then, let’s go.”

And with that, Naoya turned on his heel and walked out the door. Ren realized he wasn’t being given much of a choice, and, with a sigh, stood to follow after him. Naoya was already confusing him and he didn’t know what to do with that. God dammit…

Soon enough, they made it to the car and Ren closed his eyes. Maybe he’d try and get a few more seconds of sleep in the meantime. That would be better than thinking about the dirty looks the staff was sure to give him…

“So, where did you go to school before this?” Naoya looked over at the teenager, running that plan.

“Yasogami High in Inaba… Why do you ask?” Most people didn’t give a damn about him with his new record and all.

“Just curious. I’ve never heard of Yasogami, actually…” Naoya seemed to think for a second. “I went to St. Hermelin High myself. It was… An adventure.”

“That so?” Ren wasn’t sure what to say. But he did notice one thing… When Naoya mentioned the school, his grip on the steering wheel was just as tight as the one he’d had on the sink that night. “Um…”

Naoya shook his head as they pulled into a parking spot. “Here we are, let’s go and try to make sure we make a good impression, yeah?”

Ren nodded as he unbuckled himself. “Yeah.”

Naoya walked towards the school, leaning against the wall when they came up to the gate. “Ah, Amamiya-kun, do me a favor? Act just like you did at the apartment, okay? I think the staff’ll be able to see you’re a good kid if you do.”

“I can do that, yeah.” It was his plan to stay kind of… Out of the way, anyway.

He followed as Naoya walked into the school, pausing on occasion as if trying to recall the layout (all the times they got turned around told Ren it wasn’t working). It was actually kind of tiring, watching him go up and down stairs and peek into classrooms… In fact, he kind of stopped following him after a while.

“Um, Toudou-san, I think I found the principal’s office.” He pointed to a door he’d just peeked in. A large man in a yellow suit and a woman with a jean skirt were waiting around and he was pretty sure they were waiting for them.

“Oh, huh… How did I miss that?” Naoya tapped his foot against the ground. “I thought had the place all mapped out in my head…”

“I guess you missed a door…” Ren sighed and shook his head. “Now, come on.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?” Naoya laughed and shook his head. “Now, let’s do this.”

 

\--

 

Ren had blanked out as soon as the principal, Kobayakawa, had started talking. In fact, he didn’t come back down to earth until he’d heard the scribbling of a pen. Looked like Naoya was signing something… Probably an agreement that he’d been to blame if Ren messed up at any point.

“To reiterate, just so we’re clear, you will immediately be expelled if you cause any problems.” Kobayakawa sent Ren a look as Naoya continued to sign the dotted lines on the paper.

“I know, sir.”

“Honestly, I hesitated on accepting someone like you, but there were some circumstances on our side…” Koabyakawa continued and Ren frowned. Of course that was how it was gonna be.

...Maybe Naoya was going to be the only person who really tolerated him, then. Well, that was still more than he was expecting, so maybe he should be thankful…? Yeah right. This was just going to be the worst year.

“You might have done a variety of things in hiding in your hometown, but you will behave yourself here.” Kobayakawa didn’t even give Ren a chance to defend himself. “If you are thrown out from our school, there will be no place for you to go. Keep that in mind.”

“I’m sure he knows that already, sir.” Naoya gave him a smile and Kobayakawa looked away, towards the woman next to him.

“This is the teacher in charge of your class.”

“I’m Sadayo Kawakami. Here’s your student ID.” She held out a card and Ren took it with a mumbled thank you. “Be sure to read the school rules. Any violations will send you straight to the guidance office. And, if by any chance you cause any problems, I won’t be able to protect you at all.”

“I know, I--”

“..This IS your promise, yes, Principal Kobayakawa?” Sadayo was now looking at the principal with a raised eyebrow.

Kobayakawa nodded. “He is responsible for all his actions.”

Sadayo crossed her arms. “But really though, why me…? There should’ve been better candidates.”

“It was a sudden transfer, and your class was the only one that had an opening.”

Naoya cleared his throat. “If there’s nothing else for you to explain to us, could we leave? I’m not a fan of hearing that my charge is the hot potato no one wants to hold.”

“He is a criminal, Toudou-san. Please keep a close eye on him, I don’t want to have to suspect is guardian of being too lax.” Kobayakawa glared at Naoya, who didn’t even flinch. “Don’t let him cause any trouble outside…”

“He’s a big boy, he knows what he did wrong. But fine, fine. I’ll talk to him about it and make sure he understands.” He shook his head. “Now, can we leave?”

Sadayo seemed to think for a moment before looking at Ren. “Come to the faculty office when you arrive at school tomorrow. I’ll show you to your classroom. I think that’s all I had to say… Principal Kobayakawa?”

“Fine, fine. Have a nice day, Toudou-san. And Amamiya-kun, remember.”

“I know, I know. Have a nice day sir, ma’am.” Ren gave a bow before turning on his heel and leaving, Naoya following right after.

Soon enough, they were in the entry hall of the school again and Naoya placed a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay? They’re treating you like a nuisance more than a child they’re giving a second chance…”

Ren shrugged. “That’s about what I expected. You’re kind of an odd one out…”

“Guess the criminal record of yours is gonna follow you closely, then…” Naoya thought for a minute. “Also, if you get in big trouble again, I’ll have to kick you out. The landlady gave me a strict set of rules when I told her about you. One trip to the guidance counselor is about all you can afford.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“Good, good…” He frowned and looked at his shoes. “Too bad there’s not someone like Ms. Takami at this school…”

“Who?”

“A teacher from my high school days. She could reform actual delinquents like my friend Yukino no problem, so… I’m sure someone like her could get the school to be a little more… Warm to you.” Naoya gave a smile and Ren decided to ignore the fact he snorted right before he said warm.

“She sounds nice.”

“Mmhmm… Now, come on. Let’s try to get back to the apartment before it’s dark!”

Ren nodded. “Lead the way.”

 

\--

 

Sadayo wasn’t happy about the new transfer student in her class, not one bit. She was already so tired from her second job and now? Now a criminal was going to be in her homeroom… She could see even less hours of sleep in her future now.

As she walked down the open corridor she saw the gym teacher, Kamoshida coming towards her. “What a troublesome situation.”

She came to a stop near him, a hand on her hip. “I can’t believe they pushed someone with a record on me. A male teacher would be better suited for this…”

Kamoshida sighed and placed his hands on his hips. “Why in the world was someone like that admitted here?”

“Who knows? It was the principal's decision.” And a bad one at that, in her opinion. “I was told it’s for the school’s reputation.”

Kamoshida shook his head. “I would’ve thought that my volleyball team has contributed more than enough to cover that.”

“That’s certainly true.”

“Be careful, okay?” Kamoshida began to stretch. “Then again, if anything were to happen, I’d kick a student like that out right away.”

“I keep wishing that he’d just end up not coming to school.” She rubbed the back of her head. “Still, that isn’t something I should be saying as a teacher…”

“Well, I should be returning to practice.”

Sadayo nodded. “Oh right. The tournament’s coming up, isn’t it?”

Kamoshida gave a laugh. “Having such high expectations placed on you by others is quite a problem in itself. We’ll have to work hard to make up for the track team too.”

“Yes… That’s true.” She looked away. Whenever Kamoshida brought up the track team she didn’t know how to feel.

And with that, Kamoshida turned to walk towards the gym, leaving Sadayo to stand there alone. Left with her own thoughts about Ren and everything that she was sure would come from it…

“Why’d it have to be my class...?”

 

\--

 

Ren wasn’t sure how to feel now that he and Naoya were stuck in traffic. Nothing was moving and Naoya looked like he was about to pass out on the steering wheel. He really hadn’t gotten any sleep, had he?

“Traffic is at a total standstill…” Naoya sighed. “If it’s going to be like this, there’s no way you can’t ride the bus. Hell, if something goes wrong and you can’t take the train… I might have to ask a friend to come and pick you up.”

“A friend?”

“Yeah, a few live in Tokyo…” Naoya looked at him. “But enough about that. How did you like the school? Think you’ll be okay in the end?”

“It seems…” What was the word he was looking for? “Fun.”

“You don’t have to lie to me like that, but okay.” Naoya shook his head. “I hope no one ruins your fun.”

“I hope so too. I don’t want any more trouble for myself or you, Toudou-san.”

Naoya gave him a smile. “Thanks.”

“Yeah…” Ren thought for a moment. “But, uh, I have another question.”

“Hm?” Naoya glanced at him. “Go ahead, shoot.”

“Why did you take me in?” He wasn’t sure he’d seen any reason for Naoya to take in someone he’d thought was a criminal until they’d met.

“Your parents asked me to take you in and… Well, they already paid me. I hate to admit it, but I was short on cash.”

Ren frowned and looked away. He should’ve known it wasn’t out of the kindness of his heart. No one would take in someone like him for no reason… Hell, maybe the reason Naoya was being so nice to him was he felt bad about it. Ugh…

“Amamiya-kun, are you--”

He paused when a news report began on the radio. “Again, a subway has derailed at Shibuya Station, greatly affecting the timetable all across the--”

“Another accident?” Naoya bit his lower lip and shook his head. “That’s why traffic isn’t moving, huh…? Amamiya-kun, you’ll have to ride the train in the morning, but… I’m going to at least try and get a friend to take you home tomorrow, okay?”

“You don’t have to do that. It’s no skin off your nose as long as I go to school, right?” Ren looked away, shrinking down in his seat.

“...Amamiya-kun?”

 

\--

 

“That was direct footage from the accident. According to the police, the engineer’s life was not in danger, despite his injuries. After questioning, even he could not explain his high speed when approaching the station. No further comments were made. Police are still looking for a plausible motive…”

“It’s less of an operating accident, and more a crime of the company and the government.” The SIU Director frowned, hands clasped in front of his face. “Site inspectors apparently reported all of this six months ago… The deterioration of the tracks and the ATC.”

Sae watched the television with a frown. This kind of thing had been happening to much, and to think it’d be discovered earlier with nothing done…

“The the railway and the ministry of transport both turned a blind eye to the truth. That’s not even mentioning those backing them like the Nanjo and Kirijo groups…” The director sounded serious. “There’s no way they can hide. This will go all the way to the top.”

The woman on screen continued with her report, moving onto the main story. Talk of concern due to the recent accident and similar ones… It disgusted Sae to not know what was going on.

“Everything’s linked, that’s what you’re thinking, correct?” The director asked this question and Sae didn’t reply. “Hmm, oh well. Are you free? You and I haven’t gone for a drink in a while.”

She turned to look at him with a forced smile. “Thank you sir, but I have another meeting to attend. I must be going.”

She gave a small bow and headed for the door. There was too much work to be done to worry about things like getting drinks. Out into the hallway she went, and towards the stairs. She would speak to Goro as soon as possible and--

Well, there he was. Along with two other detectives… Naoto Shirogane and Katsuya Suou, if she recalled correctly.

“...I was expecting you to be alone, Akechi.” She made her way down the steps with a frown.

“I was too, but I guess Shirogane-san and Suou-san heard about my idea of what could be a case and were curious…” Goro laughed a bit. “By the way, did you ask for me? Is it officially a case?”

“Not quite, I want to ask your opinion on something…” Sae glanced at the other two. “And I’m sure you two have plenty to say as well.”

“Indeed, we’d love to hear what you have to say.” Naoto nodded and moved herself away from the railing.

“Though from what I’ve heard, your judgement usually ends up being correct…” Katsuya looked Sae over and she held in her desire to scoff. She wasn’t a fan of him or Naoto.

“Can we all discuss this over sushi, perhaps?” Goro gave the adults a bright smile. “You are making a student work late, after all, Sae-san.”

She began walking again. “Conveyer belt only and I’m not paying for all three of you.”

Goro let out a sigh as he followed after her. She heard Naoto and Katsuya begin whispering amongst themselves, but chose to believe they were discussing how they would pay. There was no reason to be suspicious of her… No reason. She was doing what was right.

 

\--

 

“Well, it’s dark out and there’s nothing else we can do today, but we’re back!” Naoya gave Ren a smile, one Ren did not return. “Um… We should get some rest, though. I’m gonna wake you up early and take you out for breakfast!”

Ren looked away with a sigh. “You don’t have to do that. I can find something here.”

“...Not really, I still need to use that money I got to stock the fridge and cupboards. I… Would eat out, usually.” Naoya bit his lip and looked away. “Um, here, one second.”

Ren nodded as Naoya made for his room. He was sure now, Naoya was trying way too hard to get on his good side. Why not just treat him like a meal-ticket? That seemed to be what Ren was to him…

“Here you go.” Naoya was back and handing him… A diary? “It’s a probation journal. Just write down what happens to you during the day. I’ll have to give it to your probation officer at some point, so…”

“Got it. I’ll write down my daily events…” Ren thought for a moment. “Anything else you need to say to me?”

“No, I just need to go make a phone call. You can do what you want the rest of the night. Just… Stay indoors for tonight, okay?”

“Okay.”

As soon as Naoya had walked away, cellphone pulled out, Ren began to think. Should he… Go after him? He knew it was bad, but he wanted to listen in. He was sure it was about him and he wanted to catch Naoya red handed…

“...Look, I know it’s late, but I don’t know who else to call… Yes, the kid is here… No he’s not like that at all…” He heard Naoya sigh. “...No, he found out I did it for money, but… Look, I just want to make sure he’s okay this year. I want him to feel he can talk to me…”

What? Was this for real? Naoya couldn’t actually care about him… His own parents had tossed him to the side after what happened.

“Even if he had been a delinquent, would it matter? I mean, with who I hung out with in school… No I’m not trying to insult you!” Who in the hell was he talking to…? “...I just don’t know what to do with him… Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Oh no, was he fighting with whoever was on the other end?

“You were trying to make me feel better? Wow… You aren’t good with words. At all.” Naoya laughed and Ren had to admit… He really did sound happy when he laughed. Whoever it was must be a good friend.

“I’m not trying to insult you, seriously! I actually wanted to ask if you could pick him up after school tomorrow… His name? Ren Amamiya. Can you do it…?” He heard a longer pause than the previous ones. “You can? Thanks, I really owe you one… Yeah, talk to you later. Have a nice night.”

Ren moved away quickly when Naoya hung up and turned around. It sounded like… Maybe Naoya was an okay guy… He wasn’t so sure, though. The only way to find out would be to talk to him more… Maybe he’d do that the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, hope this was like. Okay. Things won't change much in the main plot until the second palace, if it gets that far. So (shrugs)


	3. Awaken Arsene

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This idea has grown a mind of its own, so I'm writing more of it lmao--
> 
> This chapter, Naoya talks about a good friend, Ren meets Sojiro along with his first two human teammates, the villain of the first arc appears, and Arsene is around...  
> I was going to do the entire day, but decided against it. Next chapter will be the rest of the day (which means another P1 character, along w/ a P4 and P3 character when we get there)!
> 
> Characters without tags this chapter: Kamoshida, Shadow Kamoshida

When Ren woke up the next morning, he had one goal in mind. Live an honest student life until he could talk to Naoya… Probably after that, too. He didn’t want to cause problems for his family back home…

“Amamiya-kun, you up?” Naoya stuck his head in and smiled when he saw him. “Good, we can head out and get you breakfast, then. You’ll have to take the train from the nearest station from there to school…”

“Got it.”

“But my friend, Reiji Kido, said he’d give you a ride after school!” He gave Ren an awkward smile. “He’s a bit rough around the edges, to this day, but he’s a good guy. You can trust him.”

“You say that like he’ll come across as someone I can’t trust.” Ren let out a sigh, shaking his head. “You didn’t mean it like that, did you?”

“Not at all! Reiji is just… Really inept in social situations and kind of comes across as really scary. Like… When he first transferred to my school I had a nightmare about him scary.” Naoya held up his hands. “B-but! He doesn’t look as scary now! He actually cleans up really nicely!”

“So is he scary or not?”

“Um, yeah, but it’s not because of his looks… It’s more he has this aura around him. Because--” Naoya cut himself off. “Um, never mind.”

Ren rose an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. “...Okay, so I’ll keep my eyes out for a Reiji Kido after school. Where are we going for breakfast.”

“There’s this nice little cafe, Leblanc, that I wanna take you to. I’m sorta friends with the owner, so maybe he’ll be nice and give us a discount.” Naoya threw the door open. “Come on, out of the room you go!”

“...Give me a second. You’re kind of impatient.” Ren grabbed his bag and walked past Naoya. “Not everyone is go go go like you are.”

“Are you insulting me?” Naoya rose an eyebrow.

“As much as you are by talking about Kido-san like that.”

“I don’t want to insult him! And if it comes across as me doing that please don’t tell him…” Naoya followed after Ren. “I can only guess what’d happen…”

“Something bad?” Ren rose an eyebrow as Naoya grabbed his keys.

“Probably… Let’s just go before I think about it more.” Naoya shook his head and pushed open the door. “Maybe my fear will make Sojiro feel sorry for me…”

“Sojiro?” Ren rose his eyebrow as he followed him out the door. “Is that the owner of Leblanc?”

“Sojiro Sakura, yeah. He might come across as grumpy, but he’s really a nice guy!” Naoya paused. “And I promise he’s not scary like I made Reiji sound.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better, Toudou-san.”

“Sorry! I… Am not really good at this, it seems.” Naoya puffed out his cheeks as they walked out of the building and towards his car. “...I can try and fix it, though?”

“How do you plan on doing that?”

Naoya jumped into the driver’s seat. “Well, Reiji… He did magic tricks. He was good at it too! I never saw a de-- someone upset when he did one.”

“That so?” Ren slid into the passenger seat and thought for a while as Naoya started up the car and began driving. “You sound pretty fond of him.”

“He’s a friend, of course I’m fond of him!”

“I see…” Must be nice to have a friend you could talk about like that.

At that point, he let himself blank out just a bit. Naoya was still rambling on about high school, mentioning names that slipped off him (Maki this, Masao that, etc)... All he could really do was make an occasional noise and hope it was appropriate.

He watched the streets pass by until the car finally came to a stop. “Well, come on, we’ll have to walk to Leblanc from here.”

“Okay…” Ren slipped out of the car and followed quietly behind Naoya. He was kind of nervous… What if Sojiro was like the staff at the school?

“Sojiro! Guess whose charge for the year finally got in two days ago?” Of all the things to come out of Naoya’s mouth when he pushed the door of the cafe open…

“Huh?” Ren saw a man with black and hair some sick facial hair glancing over. “So this is the mysterious Ren Amamiya… Was it worth taking him in?”

“So far he’s been a great kid, so yeah. It’s almost weird to see his record after you’ve met him…” Naoya looked back at Ren. “Go ahead and introduce yourself.”

“Oh, um…” He moved in front of Naoya and gave an awkward bow. “I’m Ren Amamiya, nice to meet you sir.”

“No need to call me something like ‘Sir,’ it just makes me feel old…” Sojiro shook his head. “I’m Sojiro Sakura. If you don’t want to use my name, just use Boss instead.”

Ren nodded. “Got it, Boss.”

Sojiro laughed a bit as he moved to stand in front of the coffee maker. “You know, I tell a lot of people they can call me Boss, but this is the first time I’ve actually seen someone do it.”

“Oh…!” He felt himself go just a little red at that and the adults laughed. Of course they had to laugh.

“Well, kid. How do you like your coffee? I’m guessing Toudou brought you here to feed you. And my curry usually comes with coffee.”

“Coffee and curry…?” He sat down at the bar, Naoya taking the stool next to him. “Um, I drink mine black.”

“Really? Do you, or are you just trying sound tough?” Ren could hear the teasing, but it still upset him. “Whoa there, no need to glare at me. One plate of curry and a cup of black coffee coming right up.”

“You know how I like mine, Sojiro!” Naoya grinned at him. “By the way--”

Sojiro nodded. “Yeah, lots of cream and sugar. And no, you can’t have a discount.”

Naoya pouted, but said nothing to Sojiro, instead looking over at Ren. “Isn’t Sojiro just the worst?”

“Yeah, totally the worst. Making a high school boy and starving pretty boy pay full price…” He hoped the sarcasm was clear.

“I’m not just a pretty boy! I’m a street performer, since… My singing didn’t get me past the streets.” Naoya sighed. “I also work at a flower shop! Apparently my charm brings in a lot of customers.”

“That so…?” Ren rose an eyebrow and looked to Sojiro.

“Apparently he can charm men and women when he doesn’t open his mouth.” Sojiro sighed. “To think, your high school friends tell me you were a lot more… closed off then.”

“...Ah yeah, I was dealing with some things back then. Trying to be more open about myself now…” Naoya’s voice wavered as he spoke and Ren noticed him rubbing at his earring. “If you want me to cut back, though, I can.”

“Nah, while your charm isn’t what I’m looking for, I’m sure others like your rambling.” Sojiro smiled at him as he placed two coffees in front of them. “Now, I’ll get you two your curry. Amamiya here’ll need to head to school soon, after all.”

 

\--

 

Ren had made it onto the right trains (even though it’d been a pain thanks to the accident) and was now ready to head to Shujin. Or he would be, if it wasn’t for the fact it’d started to rain and he had no umbrella. Sure, he could run along like everyone else was, but… He would look like an angry cat if he got wet and that wouldn’t be good for his already sour reputation among the staff.

He watched school girls and boys alike run by, complaining due to the rain. Things about how they even did their hair or makeup that morning, or how they just washed their uniform… Understandable, but… Why not see if the rain would pass, then? He didn’t get city folk at all.

He started to stare out across the scenery as someone with a white hoodie on moved to stand next to him. He could see it was a girl, her skin paler than most people he saw and her face hidden by the hoodie. Her skirt seemed a bit shorter than regulation and she wasn’t wearing the turtleneck like everyone else…

Then she pulled down the hoode and Ren had to wonder how she’d kept her hair up in it. It was so long and so… fluffy, falling down across her shoulders. He noticed she had blue eyes and, by extension, that her hair must’ve been natural too. 

She seemed to notice him staring and gave a small smile. She seemed… Friendly enough. He was actually just about to say something when a car pulled up and pulled their attention off of each other. The window rolled down and in the driver’s seat was a man…

His large chin was one of the first things Ren noticed, followed by the grin on his face. He didn’t trust it and he had a bad feeling this guy was a teacher…

“Good morning! You want me to give you a ride to school? You’re gonna be late!”

The girl gave a forced smile. “Um sure, thank you.”

She walked to the car and the teacher smiled at Ren. The smile made his skin crawl. “Do you need a lift too?”

“Huh?” He forced a smile of his own and waved of the offer. “Nah.”

The girl was in the car by then, buckling up. As the teacher rolled up the window, he made a note of how uncomfortable she looked. That proved the weird feeling in his gut was somewhat right, then…

He watched the car drive away as a vulgar looking boy ran by him. “Dammit! Screw that pervy teacher…!”

“Pervy teacher…?”

“Huh?” The boy turned to look at him, a frown on his face. “...What do you want? You plannin’ on rattin’ me out to Kamoshida?”

“What do you mean?” He’d just started and he was already being accused of things. Great.

“Huh?” The boy gave him a confused look. “In that car just now. It was Kamoshida.”

So that creeper with a huge chin was Kamoshida… Ren made sure to make a mental note of that.

The vulgar looked to the side and scoffed. “He does whatever the hell he wants. Who does he think he is--the king of the castle? Don’t you agree?”

“The king of a castle…?” Did people in Tokyo have castles and he just wasn’t told about it?

“No, I mean…” The boy sighed and thought for a minute. “...Wait. You don’t know who Kamoshida is? Are you for real?”

“Totally for real, yeah.”

The boy raised his eyebrows. “You’re from Shujin, right?”

“You go to Shujin too?” He should’ve been able to tell from the emblem and the pants, but the shirt was really throwing him off.

“What…? No other high school’s got a uniform like this.” He looked at Ren’s own uniform for a second. “A second-year, huh… We’re the same grade then.”

“Another second year… Good to know.” Ren nodded a bit.

“Never seen you before though. Oh, you a transfer student?”

“In the flesh.” he gave a small nod, bracing for the boy to have somehow found out about his criminal past.

“Then no wonder you don’t know him.” Oh, he was still on the Kamoshida thing, then. “This rain ain’t too bad. We better hurry up, or we’ll be late.”

“Late on the first day… Toudou-san would kill me. Let’s go.”

“Alright, this way--” The world felt like it pulsed for a second and he groaned as he held his head. Ren couldn’t blame him, he felt light headed himself… “My head hurts… Dammit… I wanna go home…”

And with that, he started walking again, Ren following after. He followed the boy down an alley, trusting that he’d really be able to get them there faster. Get there on time and there wasn't going to be a problem. That was the only thing on his mind…

At least, that was what he thought until he swore something about a puddle he stepped in seemed… Off. When he turned around, though, it seemed normal. Was he imagining things? Like when he thought time had stood still or when he dreamt of that room?

“Wha--?!” When he heard the boy call out, he turned his attention back and quickly moved to catch up with him.

In that moment, though, he couldn’t believe his eyes. It looked like… A castle.

The boy looked back, confusion clear on his face. “We didn’t come the wrong way, though… Yeah, this should be right.”

Now, Ren didn’t know much about Tokyo, but he was pretty sure normal schools wouldn’t suddenly become castles like this… In fact, there was no way something like that could happen as far as he was concerned.

“What’s goin’ on here?” The boy looked over at Ren. “I guess we’ll just have to go and ask.”

Not what Ren’s first course of action would be, but alright. He followed after the boy, up to the drawbridge. Sucking in one more breath, he took the final step forward and entered what seemed to the front of, well, a castle. So it wasn’t just outside decorum…

“Th-that’s weird… Where’s the school…?” The boy looked around, obviously just as confused as Ren was.

“Is this our school?” It didn’t look the same as the day before, but what else could it be?

“It should be… It said “Shujin” on the gate…” The boy looked to Ren. “What’s goin’ on here?”

“I dunno, should we call someone?”

The boy pulled out his phone and frowned. “Out of service? Where’d we end up…?” He put up his phone and looked back at the stairs in the middle of the entry hall. “The sign was for the school, right?”

Ren nodded, his lips in a tight line. “What’s going on here?”

“I-I dunno! I wanna know!” The boy turned towards him with a glare. Wow, no need for him to be so angry…

Ren was about to say something about it, in fact, when what seemed to be a person in a suit of armor approached them. One problem, though, this person would have to be pretty big to fit in it… And Ren didn’t even want to think about the possibility it was a walking, empty suit…

“Geez, you freaked me out...” Well, at least the vulgar boy was calm about this. “Who’re you? You a student? Man, your costume’s impressive… Is that armor real?”

“Um…” Ren didn’t know why, but he felt approaching the scary suit of armor was a  _ bad  _ idea.

“C’mon, don’t just stand there. Say somethin’.” The boy crossed his arms, not impressed by the lack of a verbal reply.

At that point, another suit of armor approached and the boy took a step back. Ren wanted to do the same, but he felt almost frozen in place.

“...H-hey, what’s goin’ on?”

“This must be a prank.” Ren said that to calm the boy as much as he did to calm himself.

“You really think so…?” The boy looked at him, worry clear in his eyes.

“I… Don’t see what else it could be.” Unless he linked it to all the weird events the past few days and-- No. No, it couldn’t be anything other than a prank.

The first suit of armor moved closer to the boy and he dropped into a running stance. “...This shit’s real.”

When the second one began to approach, he shot up. “C-Calm down! Time out, man!”

“What do we do?” Ren was trying to think clearly, but it was hard…

The boy looked at him. “We gotta run!”

“Got it.” Ren wasn’t the best at running, but he knew that he had to try.

“Stop standin’ around and run!” The boy said that as if he had actually given Ren a chance to move. He understood where it was coming from, but still.

They both started to move, but more suits of armor came to block them off. Ren looked them over, trying to figure out some sort of weak point. There had to be one, right? There was no way they could just run out, so he needed to find a weak spot…

The vulgar boy scoffed. “What is with these guys?!” Before he could say something else, one of the suits of armor slammed its shield into his back, making him fall with a yell. “O-ow… Y-you’re gonna break my bones, dammit! The hell you think you’re--”

He cut himself off with another yell as pain shot through him. Ren could feel himself getting woozy at the scene. But no… He had to try and stay awake… Stay awake… How funny, he was thinking that right before he blacked out.

“Take them away!” Was even the last thing he heard. Great…

 

\--

 

“...Hey. Hey! Wake up!”

Ren could feel consciousness return to him slowly, his side hurting from laying on something hard… God, his head hurt and… Well, he was alone with the vulgar boy, despite what had happened before he passed out. Was this some sort of initiation for the new kid?

He looked around and saw that the room looked like… Well, like it was part of a dungeon. Okay, no, nevermind. This was in no way some sort of initiation for the new kid.

“You all right?” The boy looked worried.

“Yup, you?” He looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, more or less.” He rolled his shoulders before turning to look at the front of the cell again. “Looks like this ain’t no dream… Ugh, what’s goin’ on?!”

Before Ren could say anything, the boy was running for the bars. Well… As long as he--

“Hey, let us outta here! I know someone’s out there!” Oh god dammit. At least he was coming back now. “Dammit, where are we?! Is this some kinda TV set…?”

“Well--”

Before anything major could come out of Ren’s mouth, a scream rang out and he jumped to his feet. Where had that come from, why did he sound so hurt…? Was that going to happen to them next?

“Th-the hell was that just now…?” They both moved towards the bars at that point. 

The sounds of pain and begging for it to stop rang out. Ren felt sick to his stomach just hearing it… Whoever was doing this was one sick bastard…

“Whoa… Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa…” The boy looked to Ren. “You’re shittin’ me, right...?”

“I’m not sure what’s going on, but I can tell it isn’t good…” Ren didn’t want to end up like that.

“This is real bad…! Isn’t there some way outta here?! C’mon, we gotta do something!”

Ren nodded and began looking around at everything he could, hoping for some sort of exit. No matter what he checked out, though, the boy was pretty sure it wouldn’t help. Ren knew he was right, but… It bothered him to know there wasn’t even one thing that could help them.

“Huh? You hear that?” The boy spoke just as Ren heard the sound of approaching footsteps. The footsteps those suits of armors had had.

Ren moved to the bars again, the boy following suit. They looked around, trying to source the sound when the armors came into view and approached. They still made Ren’s skin crawl.

“Be glad that your punishment has been decided upon.” The closest armor began to speak. “Your charge is “unlawful entry.” Thus you will be sentenced to death.”

Wasn’t that a little much for a crime like that?

“Say what?!”

A familiar voice, covered in echoes, spoke up. “No one’s allowed to do as they please in my castle.”

The boy grabbed the bars again. “Huh? Wait… Is that you, Kamoshida?”

“Who?” There was no way that was the teacher from earlier. His outfit… Was a gaudy pink speedo and a cape. The teacher had been wearing a blue tracksuit… They didn’t look alike at all (and he doubted even a pervert would have a hobby to dress up like that in his free time).

“I thought it was some petty thief, but to think it’d be you, Sakamoto… Are you trying to disobey me again? It looks like you haven’t learned your lesson at all, huh?”

Learned his lesson? Ren wanted to ask what the hell he meant when Kamoshida(?) turned his attention on him.

“And you brought a friend this time… Because you can’t do anything for yourself.”

Sakamoto pulled at the bars. “This ain’t funny, you asshole!”

Kamoshida(?) returned his gaze to Sakamoto. “Is that how you speak to a king? It seems you don’t understand the position you’re in at all. Not only did you sneak into my castle, you committed the crime of insulting me -- the king.”

“In what world are you a king…?” Ren could feel anger bubbling in his stomach.

He was ignored as the yellow-eyed Kamoshida continued. “The punishment for that is death. It’s time for an execution! Take him out!”

They both jumped back, Sakamoto visibly shaken. “S-stop it…!”

Before Ren could even try and do something, the guards were in the room, cornering Sakamoto and pushing him to the side. Shit, now they were seperated… Any plan Ren could concoct was sure to take two people and now he was just one…

“...Goddammit…!” Sakamoto took a run at one of the guards with a yell, knocking it to the ground. “I ain’t down for this shit! C’mon, we’re outta here!”

Ren nodded, ready to start for the door (he could take the Kamoshida looking man, easy), only for another guard to approach Sakamoto and slam him to the side easily. Sakamoto couldn’t even stay standing, slowing sliding to the ground.

Ren tried to dash forward, but it was no use, he wasn’t able to throw one of the guard’s to the side, even with all his might…

“Just go! Get outta here…! These guys are serious!” Sakamoto looked at Ren and he wasn’t sure what to do. He looked towards the exit, did he really just leave without him?

“Oh? Running away, are we? What a heartless friend you are.” At Kamoshida(?) spoke, any want to run left Ren’s body.

He looked back to Sakamoto. “He ain’t a friend…”

Ren could feel his heart tighten for just a second. He should’ve expected that, but… It still hurt to hear. There was no chance for someone like him to make a friend, but… Dammit, it didn’t matter. He didn’t want to leave anyone behind.

“C’mon! Hurry up and go!”

“What’s the matter? Too scared to run away?” No, it was more like he was too stubborn. The king scoffed. “Pathetic scum isn’t worth my time…”

“I could say the same to you.”

Kamoshida(?) ignored him and looked back to Sakamoto. “I’ll focus on this one’s execution…”

“No…!”

Before Ren could even say a full sentence, Kamoshida(?) moved in front of Sakamoto with a grin. As two guards held him up, he began to beat at Sakamoto relentlessly. Mocking and insulting him the entire time. Ren wanted to run over, but a sword to his chest kept him in place.

Soon enough, Sakamoto was on the ground, and the king was spitting on his bruised face.

The king scoffed. “Where’d your energy from earlier go?”

A guard picked Sakamoto up and threw him to the side. Ren could feel his stomach turning in disgust.

“A peasant like you isn’t worth beating.” Kamoshida(?) began approaching Sakamoto. “I’ll have you killed right now.”

“Have you lost your mind?!” Ren couldn’t stop the words from falling out of his mouth. He was actually serious about killing someone? There was no way in hell…!

“Hm?” The king turned to look at him and approached, getting in Ren’s face. “What…? Don’t you dare tell me you don’t know who I am.” He grinned when face to face. “That look in your eyes irritates me!”

Ren felt his breath leave him when he was kicked into the wall. This man was even stronger than he looked… He needed to find a way to deal with this, even if he wasn’t the strongest…!

“Hold him there… After the peasant, it’s his turn to die.”

Ren tried to run forward, only for two of the guards to push him back. He’d think it was overkill, if he wasn’t more focused on Sakamoto’s body laying on the ground. Kamoshida(?) was approaching him now, all the other boy able to say being no over and over…

As Kamoshida laughed, Ren could feel his mind racing. The woman and the drunk. Trying to save her. Being sued. Parents turning on him. Friends abandoning him. Naoya wanting the money from taking him in. Staff distrusting him….

Why were adults all so unfair?

“ _ This is truly an unjust game… Your chances of winning are almost none _ .” A little girl’s voice rang in his head as a blue butterfly flew past him. “ _ But if my voice is reaching you, there may yet be a possibility open to you… _ ”

And with that, the butterfly was gone, the voice in his head replaced by a deeper, more masculine one. “ _ What’s the matter…? Are you simply going to watch? _ ”

What in the world…?  
“ _Are you forsaking him to save yourself?_ _Death awaits him if you do nothing._ ” He was right. Sakamoto would die if he did nothing… “ _Was your previous decision a mistake then?_ ”

The woman, the want he had to help her when he heard her calling out to him. The fact he knew it was right,despite the consequences and what everyone said to him afterwards….

“It wasn’t.” His voice sounded hoarse as he spoke. Sakamoto was being raised by the one remaining guard, a sword pointing at him. The last decision wasn’t a mistake, saving him wouldn’t be a mistake either.

He started to struggle against the guards holding him as the voice spoke on. “ _ Very well… I have heeded your resolve. _ ”

A pulsing headache hit his head at that point, as if a part of him was trying to rip out of his brain. It hurt, it hurt,  _ it hurt so much. _ All he could do was scream, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. He thrashed, trying to fight the pain.

“ _ Vow to me. I am thou, thou art I… Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice! _ ” The pounding was getting worse, Ren’s screams becoming more hoarse. “ _ Call upon my name, and release they rage! _ ”

With one more yell, his head went limp. All he could do now was focus on the voice… The voice was the only thing keeping him sane through this pain (as ridiculous as that could sound).

“ _ Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself! _ ” His headache was beginning to clear and now… Now everything seemed a lot clearer.

“Execute him!”

“That’s enough!” He pushed against the restraint again, pulling Kamoshida’s(?) attention to him.

“What was that…?”

“You heard me, that’s enough…!”

The guard dropped Sakamoto as Kamoshida(?) turned his full attention to Ren. “You desire to be killed that much…? Fine!”

With one movement of his head, a guard rose its shield and slammed it into the side of Ren’s face, knocking his glasses to the floor and totally disorienting him. Soon enough, he was shoved against the wall, spears on either side of his neck, as the yellow eyed Kamoshida grinned down at him.

The king gave the signal for Ren’s death and… Ren felt a power he’d never felt before pulse through him. A power strong enough to knock the guards away from him. He could feel it….

There was a mask on his face, it felt as if it was glued to his skin… Glued there, while he had a desire to rip it free, reveal his true face… He began pulling, struggling, tugging at it with all his might. He would make it come off and they would all see who they were really dealing with…

With a final scream, he ripped it off, blood pouring from the open wound it created on his face. He felt himself starting to grin, like the vision he had had of himself just two days prior… And then the flames engulfed him.

As they moved from him, they took form. They became Arsene, the chains around him held in Ren’s hands.

With a flourish, he released them and Arsene’s wings moved out, pushing back the creatures with a gust of wind. The guards were all unconscious now and the pathetic king was moving towards the exit, whimpering as he crawled.

“W-what the…?” Sakamoto looked at Ren with wise eyes, a hand held up in front of himself as if trying to defend himself. 

Ren could feel himself grinning, exhilarated after the awakening. He had power, a power to fight against the unfair adults… The win the unjust game the little girl had told him about… For once, he was in control and he couldn’t be happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also. This is already self indulgent to the goddamn max, but like. I could very well crank it up even more by including a few ships. If anyone reading this has an opinion: Keep it gen or add a couple ships. Lemme know.


	4. Navigation Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes Persona canon. Fucks it up. There, perfect. That's the theme of this fic.
> 
> Non-tagged characters this chapter: The SIU Director, Kamoshida + his Shadow, Chie Satonaka

_ “I am the pillager of twilight -- “Arsene” _ !” The creature flared out his wings as Sakamoto continued to stare.

“What the…?”

_ “I am the rebel’s soul that resides within you. If you so desire, I shall consider granting you the power to break through this crisis. _ ” Ren watched Arsene as he spoke, but he already knew his answer.

“Give me your power.”

Arsene nodded ever so slightly. “ _ Very well… _ ”

Kamoshida(?), the coward too stupid to run all the way away, glared at him. “Who the hell are you…?! Guards! Start by killing that one!”

The two guards who had stood then lost shape, becoming piles of black nothing before changing again. In front of Ren now was two little Jack-o-Lanterns, holding lanterns out and wearing small hats. If he wasn’t so focused, he might even think they were cute…

“You’ll learn the truth strength of my men!” Kamoshida(?) seemed cockier now. Ren didn’t really care, though. He would destroy these things no problem.

“ _ Detest the enemies before you! Change that animosity into power… And unleash it!”  _ Arsene’s voice bellowed through the room and within Ren’s head.

“Eiha!” Arsene’s hand hit the ground and darkness rose around one of the Jack-o-Lanterns, very nearly killing it.

Before Ren had much of a chance of finishing it off, both of them swarmed, hitting him and making him stumble back just a bit. He hated to admit it, but it really did hurt. He was thinking about using Eiha again when Arsene’s voice joined him again.

“ _ Swing your blade! _ ” His words made Ren drop his original idea and pull a knife from his side. When had he gotten this…?

Well, that didn’t matter for now. Instead, he leapt forward, shoving the knife into the nearly dead Jack-o-Lantern and watched as it disappeared into nothing. He had defeated one of them… Only one left to go. He could do this, he had Arsene at his side.

“ _ This power of mine is yours! Kill them however you want. Run wild to your heart’s content!” _ Arsene’s words hit Ren’s ears the same time the creature hit him with its lantern.

He staggered back, shit, this all really hurt. Even if things looked fantastical, it was very real. He needed to be careful, try to avoid getting beaten over the head by any more of these things that might try and appear to him…

“...Eiha!” He threw out another attack of darkness, this one easily destroying the remaining creature. Now all that was left was the yellow-eyed Kamoshida…

“What…” Sakamoto’s eyes were wide as he looked at Ren. “What was that just now…?”

Ren wasn’t sure… Now that the adrenaline had run its course, he found himself confused. His outfit was… Different, looking like some gaudy phantom thief get up… And the mask from before was on his face. What in the hell had he been doing?

“You little…!” Kamoshida(?) approached Ren, but the boy didn’t find himself wanting to flinch away.

The fact Sakamoto rammed into him, making the king fall over with a yell helped with that, of course. Not much he could do if both of them kept him off of his feet, right? Plus, him being on the ground like that seemed like a good chance to…

“You like that, you son of a bitch?!” Sakamoto was obviously still scared, not thinking about the best course of action.

“They key!” Ren pointed at the key ring and got ready to run out the door. They could lock the bastard in and make their escape…!

“Y-you mean this?!” Sakamoto scooped them up and ran out the door, Ren right behind him. Soon enough, Sakamoto had the door locked. “Okay, it’s locked!”

Kamoshida(?) began to move again, making both boys take a step back. “Damn you!”

Sakamoto shook his head. “Hey…! What was that just now?! And… Your clothes…!”

Ren was thinking. What was all that? Arsene was some sort of power within him, but what kind of power was it? And the clothes made no sense to him, either. It wasn’t like he was thinking of wearing something else when that all happened… Maybe that’s why his clothes changed back in a flash of blue flames.

“Whoa, it went back to normal…?!” Sakamoto’s eyes were wide. Ren was expecting another question when Kamoshida(?) reminded them of his existence and began to pull on the bars, making Sakamoto let out a yell.

“You bastards!”

“God, this is effin’ nuts!” Sakamoto rubbed the side of his head and Ren could feel himself holding in a laugh. Now was not the time to laugh at the use of “effing”...

“Yeah, that’s one way to put it…”

“Anyways, let’s scram!” Sakamoto turned to look at him. “You lead the way!”

Ren nodded and took off, watching the keys fly by him as Sakamoto threw them. Good idea, might take the guards a little longer to get him out, and thus give them more time to try and get away.

“Goddamn thieves…!” He heard Kamoshida(?) call out as he ran. “After them! Don’t let them escape!”

Ren turned back to look at him, a grin on his face. Looked like some of that cockiness from earlier was still with him. “You say that like they can catch us.”

“Y-you bastards!” Kamoshida sneered at him. “You think you can get away with doing this to me?!”

“I don’t give a shit! I ain’t down for any of this!” Sakamoto shook his head. “C’mon, let’s get outta here!”

Ren nodded and started off. “By the way, you’ll say shit but not fuck…? What’s with that?”

“Wh-- My mom doesn’t like when I use the word fuck, so I try not to use it when I don’t need to-- Shit!” Sakamoto shook his head. “I just used it, didn’t I?”

“You did, but come on.” Ren jumped over obstacles easily, Sakamoto keeping up. “Let’s just hurry up and get out of here, before someone catches us.”

“...Agreed.”

 

\--

 

After avoiding a large number of guards and going up a huge staircase, Ren could feel the hope coming off of both of them. Hope that the end was near, even though they still seemed to be in the dungeon area of the castle. There could only be so many layers that were dungeon, right…?

The fact they saw people being tortured just made that hope from Ren grow even stronger….

“There’s something up there. A bridge… And a statue?” Sakamoto sounded more than a little confused and Ren couldn’t blame him. There didn’t seem to be a way to make the bridge come down.

Well, maybe… No, he should check out the other areas before he worried about that. Just in case there was a real switch hidden in plain sight. He made it to the end of the corridor and frowned. There was nothing…

“Another dead end…?” Sakamoto scoffed. “Dammit! How the hell’re we supposed to get outta here?!”

“Well, we could try--”

“...Hey, you there.” A boyish voice hit Ren’s ears. Where…? “Blondie! Frizzy Hair! Look over here!”

They turned to look and in one of the jail cells was a cat? A mascot? A tiny creature? Maybe Ren should think of him as a tiny mascot-like creature resembling a cat? He wasn’t sure, but when he pulled on the bars to try and get out… It was kinda cute.

“What is this thing?!”

“I was thinking he might actually be--”

“You’re not soldiers of this castle, right?! Get me out of here!” The boyish voice was definitely coming from the mascot-like creature resembling a cat. “Look, the key’s right there!”

Sakamoto got angry, though Ren didn’t understand why. “We’re trying to get the hell out of here…! I mean, you obviously look like an enemy too!”

“He’s cuter than an enemy, though…”

“Dude, shut up!”

“I’m locked up here, so how can I be your enemy?! Help me out!” The tiny mascot-like creature resembling a cat had a point.

“...Just one thing. Are you… A cat?”

“I am NOT a cat! Say that again and I’ll make you regret it!” Well, that made Sakamoto’s note of him looking like an enemy hold more weight than before… 

Too bad he couldn’t say something before the sound of footsteps hit their ears again. They’d just gotten here, too…

“They’re catchin’ up already…!” Sakamoto pulled out his phone with a grimace. “Shit, there’s still no service. Ain’t there anyway to contact someone outside?!”

Ren pulled out his phone and shook his head. “Doesn’t look like it.”

“How the hell do we get out…?!”

“Hey, you two!” The tiny angry cat waved to them to grab their attention again. “You want to know where the exit is? Let me out and I’ll take you there. You don’t want to get caught and executed, right?”

“You’re right, but…” Ren did his best to look scary. “You better not be lying.”

It seemed to work, at least a little bit. “I’m not lying! It’s the truth!”

Sakamoto turned to Ren. “This thing sounds like it’s all talk…”

“If you guys think you can get out on your own, then be my guest!”

Sakamoto sighed. “Whadda we do…?”

Once again, the sounds of the guards made Ren and Sakamoto realize they were running out of time. “We might have to trust the kitty cat.”

“Are you seriously not messin’ with us?!”

The cat shrugged. “If you don’t hurry, they’ll catch you.”

“F-fine…” Sakamoto seemed to know when he was defeated, at least. He wasted no time opening the jail cell and the cat-like being skipped out happily.

He let out a sigh, little arms stretched out as if they should go about his head. “Freedom tastes so great…”

“Now, where’s the exit, you monster cat?!”

“If that’s what a monster cat looks like, I want twenty.”

Ren’s comment about monster cats was ignored as the being turned to look at Sakamoto. “Don’t call me a cat! I am Morgana!”

“Shuddup and hurry it up! You wanna be locked up again?!” Sakamoto was ready to bark right back.

“A-All right, sheesh!” Morgana turned to look towards the way Ren and Sakamoto had come from. “Follow me, and stay quiet!”

 

\--

 

Sadayo wasn’t sure what to do. The first day and Ren still wasn’t there… Had her wish for him to not come to school come true? Sure, she’d had that wish and thought about it, but she wasn’t exactly serious. Besides… Naoya had seemed like an alright man, putting aside some of his remarks to her and the principal…

“...It’s fourth period already. Toudou-san said Amamiya-kun left the cafe they were having breakfast at this morning. Should I contact the police…?” She shook her head. “No, that’ll just be more of a hassle…”

She turned back to her work and sighed. She shouldn’t get too involved with a student. Never again… Never again…

“What did I do to deserve this…?”

 

\--

 

“Oh well… Guess we just gotta follow it.” Sakamoto sighed and Ren frowned. It? Ren thought it was clear that Morgana was a boy… At least, Morgana reminded him of a young boy in voice and mannerisms.

Ren ran after Morgana, watching the little hop in his step. Wow, that was super cute. Ren really did want about twenty Morganas. Twenty Morganas and maybe this year would be a little better than what it was shaping up to be so far…

“What’re you doin’?” Sakamoto watched as Morgana stopped in front of the creepy statue of Kamoshida. Had Ren’s hunch been correct, then…?

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m lowering the bridge.” Morgana said that like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You, Frizzy Hair. It seems you pick up on things faster than our Blondie over here. Try checking out around the mouth of this statue, okay?”

Ren nodded and walked over to it, studying it for a second. Yeah, looked like his hunch was right. The statue wasn’t just a statue, it was totally a lever. If he were to just pull on the mouth… There! Down went the bridge and up went their chances of escaping in one piece.

“How were we supposed to know to do that?!” Sakamoto’s eyes were wide as he looked from Ren to Morgana.

Morgana scoffed. “Amateur. Come on, let’s keep going!”

They started running again, escape the main focus in their mind. Only for them to almost run right into a guard, making Sakamoto let out a scream.

“Shit… Shit, it’s them!” The guard looked to them and Ren felt his clothes change into that gaudy costume again. Looked like it was time to fight.

Morgana scoffed as he jumped across Sakamoto’s shoulder. “You amateur! Stay still!”

Sakamoto was whimpering, poor guy just didn’t know what to do.

Morgana turned to look at Ren. “Hey, you! You could fight, right? Let’s go!”

Ren nodded. “Alright, but what can you do?”

Morgana laughed at the question, jumping up in the air. “Come… Zorro!”

In a flash of blue flames, something akin to Arsene appeared. It was top heavy, the chest prominent in comparison to the legs. There was a large Z belt buckle in the middle, and it had a mustache. With a flurry, it used a rapier to write out a Z with wind and Ren could feel himself grinning.

This would be helpful.

“Y-you got one of those things too?!” Ren could tell this was taking Sakamoto on a trip. Poor guy…

The guard dissolved again and took form as Morgana crossed his arms. “We will promptly shut them up!”

It was another of the Jack-o-Lanterns and… Something with a huge dick. Ren really wished the first thing he thought when seeing a creature wasn’t about the size of their dick, but here he was. The wings and horns told him it was… Probably something like an Incubus, though, so maybe he could let it slide.

“Damn Shadows… They’ve taken up intercept positions!” Morgana looked at Ten. “It means they’re holding nothing back and are serious to kill us.”

“So they want us dead, lovely.”

“I’ll back you up, so fight like your life depends on it! Let’s go!”

“Eiha!” Without waiting another moment he sent an attack at the bedside brute. It wasn’t enough to kill it, but it did a good amount of damage, he thought.

Morgana gave a small scoff, despite the smile on his face. “I knew you were an amateur.”

“Well, hey, I’m new to this.” Ren shrugged a bit, flipping the knife in his hands.

“Oh? Well then I guess I need to teach you. This is how you fight!” He wasted no time summoning his own Persona, using a wind spell to knock the Jack-o-Lantern down. So it was weak to that…

“Interesting…”

“Strike at an enemy’s weakness to knock them down! Use that opening to strike again! That’s the most basic of basics! Remember it well!” With that, Morgana finished off the creature easily.

The Incubus-like creature attacked Morgana, Ren almost wanted to grin. Looked like it wasn’t very strong at all. Morgana was holding up just fine after that. He took the moment it started moving back to attack back, killing it with a swipe of his knife.

“Not bad. Your Persona’s pretty powerful.” Morgana sounded impressed, at the very least.

“Persona…?” Sakamoto tilted his head to the side. “Y’mean that thing that comes outta you guys all dramatic-like?”

“Yes. You saw how Frizzy Hair here ripped off his mask when he summoned it, right? Morgana paused for just a moment. “Well, everybody wears a mask deep within their heart. By removing that…”

Ren’s gaudy costume decided that was the perfect time to disappear in blue flames again. Just when Morgana was about to explain more about this all, too. Great timing costume, really.

Sakamoto took a step back. “Huh…? He turned back to normal…”

Morgana let out a noise of thought. “It looks like you don’t have full control over your power yet. The transformation shouldn’t normally dissolve like that. After all--”

Sakamoto let out a groaned. “That’s enough! This crap doesn’t make any sense!”

Ren frowned. “...I was listening, though…”

“Can’t you just sit still and listen for once, Blondie?!” Morgana was more than a little upset.

“Don’t call me Blondie! My name’s Ryuji…”

“Actually, there’s no time for me to lecture you!” Morgana shook his little bobble head. “You wanna escape this place in one piece, right? Let’s go!”

“I wanted to know more, though…” Today was really not Ren’s day.

“Oh, but before that…” He handed Ren some bottles. “Take these. Use them carefully, okay?”

“Medicine…?” Well, that might come in handy. Kind of?

“Come on, we should hurry. It’s not much farther to the exit.” And with that, Morgana started off again, leaving the boys to follow after.

They ran down the hall, Ren doing his best to ignore the tortured people in some of the cells. It would just make him sick to his stomach, which was probably the last thing he needed in that moment. It would slow them down and get them killed… He didn’t want to be responsible for that.

Too bad Ryuji took an interest and stopped them anyway.

“Hold on a sec!” He was looking into one of the cells with wide eyes. “I feel like I’ve seen what this dude’s wearin’ before… Dammit! I’m too flustered! I can’t remember a damn thing!”

Morgana looked away. “Come on, let’s go!”

Ryuji turned to look at him. “Hold on, dammit!”

“What is is? We need to go, fast!” Ren couldn’t help but agree with Morgana.

“But… Who are these guys?” Ryuji sounded conflicted about leaving. He really wanted to know who they were, huh?

“Do you really think we have time to worry about other people right now?!” Morgana was annoyed, that was for sure. “Besides, they’re--”

“There!” The voice of one of the guards hit their ears and they turned. The bridge was coming down and an enemy was coming straight for them.

“You should’ve listened to me…!” Morgana’s ears flattened against his head. 

“Let’s fight.” He felt his clothes change again. That was about all they could do, right?

“I’m glad you stick to  your guns.” Morgana gave him a smile, his ears perking up.

The creature changed then, turning into a pixie-looking creature. Another thing Ren would’ve found cute, given the time. A shame it wanted to slaughter him where he stood, huh?

“Looks like it’s raring to go too!” And the fight began. Looked like there’d been another creature behind the first, dammit…

At least Eiha let Ren make quick work of both of them. It took no time before they were ready to head out again. Well, that had been fun (not really, seeing as it went super quickly, but still).

“All right! Let’s get away before more show up!” Morgana pumped his tiny paws in excitement as Ren’s costume changed back to his uniform yet again.

“Hold on, we can’t just leave these guys here…!” Ryuji turned to them, unable to believe they were willing to just leave.

“You really don’t get it, do you?” Morgana groaned a little. “There’s no time to explain. Look, I’m going. If you don’t want to follow, be my guest!”

And with that he took off. “Dammit… Fine, I’m coming!” And Ryuji followed.

Off they went, thankfully not running into anymore enemies before they made it back to the entry hall. So they’d be able to escape this way, right? Well, Ren was hoping so, at least, when Morgana ran right past the main entrance and down a hallway.

He turned back to them with a smile. “We’re here!”

“Finally! We’re saved…!” Ryuji ran to a door that Ren was pretty sure led deeper in to the castle and began tugging on the handle. He let out a groan of struggle when it didn’t budge. “...It’s not openin’! D’you trick us, you jerk?!”

“...That looks like it’ll lead us deeper in, though.”

“What he said. Don’t jump to conclusions! Over here!” And with that, he pushed through the other door. The one Ryuji had run right by.

“H-hey, wait up!”

They followed Morgana into a room. There was a vent on the wall and suitcases against the very same wall. Ren had to wonder…

“Where are we supposed to get out from here?! There aren’t even any windows!”

Morgana groaned. “Amateur… This is the most basic of basics.”

Ren hummed a bit and looked at the vent. Would that be easy to pry open…? “Are we going to die here?” Well, he didn’t mean for that to slip out.

Morgana fell to the ground. “That’s right. Everything’s hopeless and black like my fur -- Now why would I die here with you two?! The ventilation shaft, you morons! You guys should be able to squeeze through it one at a time.”

“I see…” Ryuji rolled his shoulders and started towards it. “Then we just gotta get that metallic mesh off! And a one, and a--”

And off it came, Ryuji falling as it did. Well, at least it’d come off… Even if the floor was kind of wrecked now.

“Oww… Crap The enemy didn’t hear us, did they?” After there was no sound of approach, he turned to Ren. “Seriously, we’re finally gettin’ outta here…!”

“You should wait on celebrating until you actually get out.” Morgana seemed amused. “Now, get going!”

“But… What about you?” Ryuji frowned at him. 

“There’s something that I still have to do. We’re going on separate ways.”

“Don’t get caught again.” If he got caught, there was less chance Ren could find a way to drag him home. He still wanted a cute monster cat like Morgana.

Morgana laughed. “You better be careful too.”

“I will be, thanks.”

Morgana nodded. “See ya.”

And with that, Ryuji and Ren made for the vent. They were gonna get out of here, no matter what it took…

“Those two seem useful… Especially the frizzy-haired one, if my judgement’s right…”

 

\--

 

When Ren fully realized where they were, it wasn’t anything weird like a castle. In fact, it looked like they were in the middle of Tokyo, the rain from earlier cleared up. Well, that was a sudden change. If it wasn’t for his and Ryuji’s heavy breathing he’d have thought he imagined it all.

“Did we make it…?” Ryuji looked around.

“Looks like we did… I have cell service again…” He looked at his phone with a small smile. Good.

“ _ You have returned to the real world. Welcome back. _ ” What the hell?

“Huh?” Ryuji raised an eyebrow. “Returned…? Does that mean we got away?”

“Probably, yeah.” Ren nodded a bit as he put up his phone. He’d deal with the weird voice later.

“I dunno what to think anymore…” Ryuji looked around. “What was all that anyways…? That castle, and Kamoshida, and that weird cat! The hell’s goin’ on?!”

“What’s with the yelling? Are you guys students of Shujin? Ren looked over and there was an officer with silver hair approaching. For a second, he thought he was older, but… No, he was probably in his twenties. He had a bandage on his forehead and, well, Ren could see he was super muscular under that uniform. “Cutting classes this early into the year…?”

“Huh? No!” Ryuji shook his head. “We were tryin’ to get to school and we ended up at this weird castle!”

The man shared a look with the woman with him, apparently another officer. Her eyes were wide as Ryuji said that. “What…? A castle, like--”

“Um, hand over you bag. I need to make sure you aren’t doing drugs, kid.” The male officer spoke, holding up a hand to cut off the woman.

“Why would you think that?!” Ryuji glared at him, but Ren could understand that reaction. The woman’s reaction… Not so much.

“Hey, um, are you his friend?” The female officer looked at him, apparently a little shaken from the castle remark.

“Something like that.” He nodded a bit. Ryuji was being ridiculous, but he’d defend him.

“Then you should go to school, make sure he goes too…! Talking about castles and princesses is just silly--”

“I never mentioned a princess.” Ryuji rose an eyebrow. “Are you puttin’ words in my mouth?”

“No, uh…!”

“Look, there was nothing weird with Shujin when we passed it earlier. Just head over there and I’ll call them to let them know, okay?” The man stepped between the two. “Leave my partner alone.”

“Master…!”

“Wha-- But-- Say somethin’!”

Ren frowned and turned on his heel. “I don’t wanna be any later than I already am. Let’s go.”

“W-wait a sec! Is that guy for real…?” Ryuji grit his teeth. “...Fine, I’m goin’!” And off hee went.

“Say, Master…”

“Yeah, Satonaka?”

“Should we tell Mitsuru-san about this?”

“Way ahead of you…”

 

\--

 

The SIU director sat in his office, thinking over recent events. “The Minister of Transport announcing his resignation… Things are going as planned…”

He frowned, shaking his head. “Sae Niijima… That reminds me--”

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Who in the world could be bothering him now?

“Yes, who is it?”

The door opened and a familiar face stood there. What…?  _ He  _ never came directly here…! “You--”

“Now, now. Don’t worry. I just want to talk…”

 

\--

 

The sun was lower in the sky when Ren and Ryuji finally got to the school. It didn’t look like anyone was called, though… No one was standing there, at the very least… Maybe the officer had said that to scare them?

“Is this for real…?” Ryuji looked around. “I’m sure we came the same way… What’s goin’ on here…?”

At that point, the guidance counsellor appeared. So the cop had called. “That’s exactly what I wanted to ask you. We received a call from the police.”

“That damn cop wasn’t jokin’ when he said he was gonna call!”

The counselor made a sound of interest. “It’s rare not to see you alone. Where were you roaming around until this time?”

“Uhh.. A ca-- A castle?” Ren almost wanted to scream when Ryuji said that.

“So, you have no intention of giving an honest answer?”

“What’s this about a “castle”?” A voice Ren had heard quite a lot today hit his ears and Kamoshida came into view.

“Kamoshida?!”

“You seem so carefree, Sakamoto.” Kamoshida watched Ryuji carefully. “Quite a difference from when you did morning practice for the track team.”

Track team? Ren found himself glancing over at Ryuji in curiosity.

“Shuddup! It’s your fault that--”

The counselor cut Ryuji off. “How dare you speak that way to Mr. Kamoshida! … There’s not much leeway left for you, you know?”

Ryuji scoffed. “He’s the one that provoked me!”

The counselor didn’t seem to care. “Do you really want to be expelled?! In any case, you’ll have to explain yourself! Follow me!”

“What?!” Ryuji was steaming. “This is bullshit!”

Kamoshida turned to the counselor with a smile. “Come now. I should have been more considerate, too. Let’s just say that we were both to blame.”

“Well, if you say so…” So the counselor would bend to what Kamoshida said…? “Still, you’re coming with me. It’s undeniable that you’re extremely late.”

Ryuji seemed to calm down just a bit. “Fine…”

“By the way… You’re that new transfer student, correct? Ren Amamiya…” Kamoshida’s attention was on Ren for a moment. 

That was, until Ryuji walked past Kamoshida, sending him a death glare. Ren couldn’t blame him, if he wasn’t already on thin ice he’d send someone like Kamoshida a glare like that too.

Kamoshida turned his attention back to Ren. “...Have we met somewhere?”

“I saw a girl in your car.” He did his best to not snap his reply.

“That’s right…” Kamoshida scratched his head. “I remember now… Well, I’ll overlook this just for today.”

Ren nodded, but didn’t say anything. He was sure there was a catch to those words.

“I’m sure you’ve heard from the principal, but cause any trouble and you’ll be expelled. Understand?” And there it was.

“I understand, very well.”

“At any rate, hurry up and go to the faculty office. I’m sure Ms. Kawakami is tired of waiting.” With that, Kamoshida turned away from him. “Good luck trying to enjoy your new school life.”

And that’s what told Ren something was going to go terribly wrong.

Oh well, he should’ve expected it… So he just walked into the school, doing his best to ignore the whispers around him. People already saw him as a criminal… Had Kamoshida leaked the information or something? Well… Whatever.

He walked into the faculty office and made his way to Sadayo. The sooner this was over, the better.

She sighed. “Unbelievable… Being over half a day late on your first day…?”

“Sorry…”

“Can you explain yourself?” She didn’t actually sound that interested…

Well, he might as well do this Ryuji-style. “I was in a castle.”

She turned her chair and sent him a glare. “You can’t be serious… Will you pull yourself together? You were given fair warning yesterday.”

“I know…”

“More importantly…” She sounded super pissed. “I heard that you were caught along with that Sakamoto-kun?”

“Wait… “That” Sakamoto…?” What was that supposed to mean?

She sighed and shook her head. “Don’t get involved with him, okay? He’s nothing but trouble. He wasn’t like that when he was devoting his time to track and field, though…”

Okay, there was totally a story with the track team and Ryuji…

“...Anway. Break’s almost over. Classes will end after fifth period today because of the subway accident. I’ll have you introduce yourself when class resumes.”

“Got it.”

“Follow me.”

They moved from the office to the hallway near his classroom. Okay, he could do this. Just go in, give the bare minimum, and go to his seat. He was already in deep shit, no need to make it deeper.

“By the way, when you introduce yourself… Be serious about it even if you’re lying to the class, okay? Do NOT say anything unnecessary.”

“Serious and short was the plan, ma’am.”

“Good.” And with that, she walked into the class, leaving Ren to follow.

...And everyone was already whispering about him. Great. Things about how he was insane and could knock them all out without trying… Someone had totally leaked his record and there was nothing he could do about it.

“..Well, I’d like to introduce a transfer student: Ren Amamiya.” She paused. “Today, we… Had him attend from the afternoon on since he wasn’t feeling well.”

Well, that was a decent lie.

“All right, please say something to the class.” She gave him a look that said to remember and keep it serious.

“Nice to meet you all.”

“He seems quiet… But I bet when he loses it…”

Oh come the fuck on.

Sadayo didn’t seem that enthused about the whispers anyway. “...Uhh, so… Your seat will be… Hmm… Over there. The one that’s open.”

Ren nodded and made his way towards it as Sadayo asked someone to share their textbooks with him for the day. Ren really wished he’d already had some… It would make this all a lot less awkward and less disheartening.

A flashy female student sent him a glare as he went to walk by. “...Lies.”

Wait a second. “You’re that girl…”

She looked away with a sneer and Ren frowned. To his seat he went, then…

The brown-haired student in the seat next to his turned around. “...Did you catch that? Do those two know each other? Does that mean he hit on her before transferring here?”

...Of course it was talk like this. Time for Ren to try and blank it all out until he could go home… Today was just the worst. Maybe he should’ve just dropped out of school while he was ahead.

 

\--

 

When Ren walked out into the hallway, he swore he saw a vision of the castle from earlier. But, no… He was at Shujin Academy, a school… He held his head with a groan. What in the hell…?

Sadayo noticed him and rose an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”

“Is this… A castle?” He was more talking to himself than anything.

Sadayo sighed as she rubbed the back of her head. “Are you sure you’re okay? Also… It seems like people are already talking about you, but I’m not the one who told them.”

“I didn’t think you were, Ms. Kawakami.”

“I can’t even catch a break… Why do I have to deal with this?” She turned her attention back to Ren. “You should head straight outside. Toudou-san sounded pretty angry and I believe he said his friend would be here shortly after classes let out.”

“...Great, his scary friend’ll probably kill me…”

“What…?” Sadayo shook her head. “Nevermind, uh… about Sakamoto-kun. Don’t get involved--”

As she spoke, who else but Ryuji approached. What timing he had…

“Speak of the devil…” She crossed her arms before looking at Ryuji. “What do you want? I heard the police caught you cutting classes today.”

Ryuji looked away with a scoff. “It was nothin’.”

“And you haven’t dyed your hair back to black either…”

“Sorry ‘bout that.” Ryuji turned to Ren, leaning in to make sure Sadayo couldn’t hear. “...I’ll be waitin’ on the rooftop.”

Seems like Sadayo heard anyway. “See? That’s why I don’t want you getting involved. Understood?”

And without another word, she walked away. 

Ren was just about to think between going to find Reiji or going to find Ryuji when Kamoshida and the principal walked into view. Maybe he would listen in and use what they said to decide his next course of action.

“Why did you allow a student like him to transfer here? He’s already started associating with Sakamoto.” Kamoshida sounded upset and Ren knew they were talking about him. Huh. “A student with a criminal record, and the culprit of an assault case. At this rate, it’d be pointless how much I contribute to the school.”

“Now don’t be like that…” The principal shook his head. “This school counts on you, Kamoshida-kun. You are our star. Still, a steady build-up is necessary behind such brilliance as well.”

“...Your troubles never seem to end, do they, Principal Kobayakawa?” Kamoshida plastered on a fake grin. “All right, I understand. I’ll continue to do my best to answer you expectations of me.”

And with that, Kobayakawa walked away, Kamoshida doing the same shortly after. Well, if they were going to talk like that… Maybe Ren would go talk to Ryuji. Just to see what the hell was going on around here.

He wasted no time making it up to the roof, ignoring the sign that said no one should be on it. If it was unlocked people were sure to go hang up out there, right? Besides… It wasn’t like it’d seem out of character for him (according to the rest of the school, at least).

Ryuji was sitting in a chair, kicking at a table. “...There you are. Sorry for callin’ you up here like this.”

“Not a problem.”

“I bet Kawakami already told you stuff like “don’t get involved with him,” huh?”

Ren rose an eyebrow. “How’d you know?”

He sighed. “Figured as much. Then again, we’re in the same boat. I heard you got a criminal record. Everyone’s talkin’ about it.”

“Yeah… Don’t remind me.” He sighed and shook his head. First day, too…

“No wonder you were so gutsy.”

Ren shrugged and moved to lean against the table. “So, anything else you wanna say?”

“...What was all that that happened? You know, how we almost got killed in a castle…” He leaned closer. “It wasn’t a dream… Right? You remember it too, yeah?”

He gave a nod. “Yeah.”

“Well, just ‘cause we both remember it doesn’t mean much though…” Ryuji was frowning. “I mean, even if it was a dream, you saved me from Kamoshida. So yeah… Thanks, Ren.”

“I mean, you’re welcome, but I wasn’t just going to leave someone to die.”

“But man, that Kamoshida we saw there…” Ryuji was just working through all of it outloud now, wasn’t he? “You prolly don’t know about it, but there are some rumors about him.”

“The guy we met earlier?” He just wanted to make sure they were talking about the same Kamoshida.

“Yeah, the ripped mophead.” Ren held in a snort at that. “That asshole who was full on himself at the castle. No one says anything against him ‘cause he’s some medalist who took the volleyball team to nationals.”

“That’s all it takes…?”

“Yeah. The way Kamoshida was kind of that castle felt crazy real ‘cause of that…” Ryuji was pissed. “...I wonder if we can go back to that castle again…”

He stood up with a groan. “Forget it. Must’ve all been a dream! It has to be!”

“Okay, dream. Got it.”

“Sorry to drag you out here like this. That’s all I have to say.” Ryuji rubbed the back of his head. “You know, we might be pretty similar. I feel like we’re gonna get along just fine as “troublemakers.” I’m Ryuji Sakamoto. I’ll come talk if I see you around. Don’t ignore me, all right?”

Ren gave a small nod. “All right.”

“Seeya.”

 

\--

 

The first thing Ren thought when he saw Reiji Kido was something along the lines of  _ this is the scariest man I’ve ever seen _ . And, honestly, he didn’t even know why. Reiji actually looked like your run of the mill businessman, if anything… There was nothing scary about him.

“You’re Ren Amamiya, right?” Okay, well, his voice was gruffer than he was expecting, but…

“Yes, and I’m guessing you’re Toudou-san’s friend, Kido-san?” He rose an eyebrow and the man replied with a nod.

“I heard you were over half a day late on your first day.” Reiji turned on his heel and Ren followed him to the street. “Guessing you don’t care much about school if that’s the case.”

“T-that’s not it! I got lost and…” Ren shook his head. “No, nevermind. I doubt you’d believe me…”

Reiji turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised, before sliding into his car. “If you say so, kid…”

“Could we not talk about me right now? I’m already expecting a verbal lashing from Toudou-san when I get back to his place…” Ren moved into the passenger seat. “Let’s talk about you instead. What do you do for a living?”

“I sell knives.” Reiji was short and curt with his answers, huh?

“Knives…” Ren thought back to the knife he’d had at the castle. “I wonder how much your knives would come in handy at the castle--”

“Castle?” Reiji turned to look at Ren, the look on his face anything from pleasant.

“I-I didn’t say anything about a castle!” Ren shook his head. “A-anyway, um…”

“...You’re going to ask me more questions, aren’t you?” He rolled his eyes. “Let’s just skip the small talk. I’m in my thirties, I have a son who lives with his mother, I was together wish his mother for a while but we ended up separating, I live near Toudou. Anything else you’d want to know?”

“Oh, that was… Pretty comprehensive.” Ren cleared his throat. “Here, let me try. I’m sixteen, I lived with my parents in Inaba up until now, my parents are in the middle of a divorce, and I’m living with Toudou-san.”

Reiji sighed and shook his head. “You didn’t need to try and make things even, but… Thanks. It’s funny, you seem like a good kid. Why would someone like you skip most of their first day?”

“It wasn’t on purpose. I actually planned to get there on time and talk to Toudou-san after school.” Ren looked out the window. “But now I’m guessing I should wait on that.”

“Probably, yeah.”

Well, Reiji wasn’t making him feel any better about all of this. Naoya hadn’t been wrong when he said Reiji was inept when it came to social situations, that was for sure… He had to try and keep that in mind, in case they spoke again in the future.

“...I hope he isn’t too mad.”

“I’ll talk to him about it. Won’t be able to do much, but…” Reiji shrugged. “I can try and keep him from tearing you a new one.”

Ren frowned. “Gee, thanks.”

He closed his eyes at that point. There was no point in trying to think this all out right now. Naoya was going to be angry and he’d fucked himself over. No way to fix it now, all he could do was endure… Maybe he could think of the best way to apologize while they were on their way…

Just think, think, think--

“Oh, hey, we’re here.”

“What?!” That was faster than yesterday!

“And Toudou is walking towards the car…” Reiji sighed and rolled down his window. “I picked up your kid for you.”

“Amamiya-kun…!” Naoya stuck his head through the window, making Reiji lean back. “The first day and you’re late? You seem like such a good kid, but…”

“...I got lost, sorry.”

“Lost enough you missed that much? I’m sorry, but I’m not buying it!” Naoya shook his head. “Amamiya-kun, I want to trust you and think you’re a good kid… But you’re already making that hard to do.”

Ren felt himself flinch away. Of course, the one adult he thought he could maybe, just maybe, trust in the end had to say something like that. There was just no place for a kid like him, was there?

“Toudou…” Reiji pushed Naoya out of his car and looked at him. “I need to talk to you about something the kid said. Without him here.”

“But--”

“We need to talk. Now.”

Naoya frowned, but seemed to stop arguing, instead looking to Ren. “Go inside and head to bed. We’ll talk more about this in the morning.”

Ren nodded, unbuckling himself and heading for the apartment, Naoya slipping him a key as he walked by. He was already messing all of this up…

 

\--

 

Ren had thrown himself into bed as soon as he’d made it in, not even locking the front door. He’d wanted to just sleep all the nasty off… But then he dreamed of blue and chains yet again. That could only mean one thing…

His eyes shot open and he was in prisoner garb again. He was in the Velvet Room.

“...About time you’ve come to.” Caroline looked at him as he sat up. “On your feet, Inmate!”

“Our master wishes to speak with you. It’s for your own sake that you take his words to heart.” There was Justine, ever-calm in comparison to her… Twin?

“First off, let us celebrate our reunion.” Igor smiled at him and he felt his stomach turn. “Oh…? You’ve awakened to your powers. And special ones at that.”

Powers? Special…?

“Your rehabilitation can finally begin.”

Wait, what? “Rehabilitation?”

“There is no need to understand it all for the time being.” Well, yeah, but he’d like to know at least a little more. “You will be training the power of Persona, which you have awakened to. Personas are, in other words, a “mask” -- An armor of the heart when confronting worldly matters. I have high expectations for you.”

Well, at least now Ren knew what Personas were… But now what did he say?

“What do you mean?” What was being expected of him? How could he live up to the expectations?

“There is no need to worry. You will learn when the time comes.” Igor paused. “By the by… Have you come to appreciate the Metaverse Navigator?”

“You mean that app?”

“Using it will allow you to come and go between reality and Palaces.”

“Palaces? You mean like that castle from today?”

“...I bestowed it to you as a means to train you as a thief.” Oh, so he was just going to dodge the question. 

“The Metaverse Navigator is a gift from our master! You better take care in using it, Inmate!” Caroline sent him a glare, as if he’d already messed up with it.

Justine turned to him then. “Devote yourself to your training so that you may become a fine thief.”

“It must be disheartening to make use of the Metaverse Navigator alone. Should there be others who would prove beneficial to you, I will grant it to them as well.” Igor’s ever worn grin was making Ren even more uncomfortable. “This is all for you to grow as a most excellent thief…”

The bell from last time began to ring and Caroline scoffed. “It’s time. Go back and enjoy whatever rest you might have…”

And with that, everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, hope you enjoyed this! Any comments would be appreciated!


	5. Adult Conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! Took me a while bc I hate writing Kamoshida and I had to edit some things to make sure this fic kept itself Gen shipping wise.
> 
> Non-tagged characters this chapter: Kamoshida, Mr. Ushimaru

When Ren woke up the next morning, he was expecting to hear a lot of yelling from Naoya… Maybe that was why he was delaying walking out of his room. He was already tired and upset, so anything else that day might just be too much for him. But he needed to go eat if he wanted to stay awake all day.

He slipped out of his room and made for the kitchen. Shit, there were sounds, someone was in there… He’d been hoping Naoya would still be asleep. That would make things easier to deal with, at least.

He peeked in and… “Kido-san?”

“Hm?” Reiji turned to look at Ren, his hair a mess. Enough of a mess that Ren could see the scar in the shape of an x on his forehead. “Oh, you’re up.”

“W-why are you here?”

“Toudou and I ended up talking most of the night, so I stayed over…” He held out a mug to Ren. “Want some coffee?”

“Where’s Toudou-san?” Ren furrowed his brows.

“Still asleep, a… Dream woke him up in the middle of the night and he’s exhausted…” Reiji took a swig from the mug, seeing as Ren hadn’t accepted it. “Stupid fucking gods…”

“What was that?” Ren was pretty sure he just said something about gods.

“I said stupid butterflies. Toudou has trouble sleeping after he dreams of butterflies…” Reiji was bad at covering things up, wasn’t he?

“Did he wake you up when he had the dream, then?” Ren rose an eyebrow.

“We shared his bed. Kind of hard for me not to notice when he startles awake.” Reiji wasn’t looking Ren in the eye.

“Shared a bed, huh…?” Ren decided not to question that anymore. 

“He wanted to lay down while we were chatting and we both ended up passing out.”

Ren hummed a bit and gave a nod. “Did he dream about a golden butterfly again?”

Reiji turned his glare to Ren. “How’d you know what color the butterfly was?”

“The first night I was here he dreamt of a golden butterfly. We were both woken up by dreams, so…” Ren rummaged through the cupboard. There still wasn’t much food in the house, huh? Just some bread and spreads…

“Don’t make a face like that, I was just curious…” Reiji rolled his eyes.

“I was making it at the lack of food…”

“Toudou didn’t buy as much as he planned when he heard about you being late.”

Ren sighed, shaking his head. “I told you--”

“It wasn’t on purpose, yeah. I told Toudou about it and he’s a little calmer about it now.” Reiji paused. “He does have questions for you, though.”

“I expected as much.” Ren turned to look at Reiji. “I-- Oh, good morning Toudou-san.”

Naoya gave him a small wave and a yawn. “...Last night was rougher than I was expecting…”

“You let that butterfly get to you too much, you know that?” Reiji rolled his eyes while Naoya made his way to the coffee pot and poured himself a mug. “It’s probably a pure coincidence you started dreaming of it again.”

“Can you blame me?” Naoya leaned into Reiji to try and keep Ren from listening, but he was ready to strain his ears. “With the timing of yesterday’s events, the fact Ren’s aura is… you know, different now than when he got here, and the things  _ he _ said while I was there… It’s too much to be a coincidence.”

Ren frowned as he pulled out a few slices of bread. “What are you talking about?”

Naoya looked at him, his expression blank. “Nothing.”

“But--”

“Amamiya-kun, it’s nothing you need to worry about. You just need to focus on your studies.” Naoya turned away and moved to sit across from Reiji. “What the adults talk about doesn’t affect you.”

Ren looked to Reiji, hoping he’d at least say something, but… No. He just gave Ren a sorry look before turning his attention to Naoya. “I’ll be leaving soon, I need to get to work.”

“Awww, I was hoping you’d be able to take Ren to school. I’m still wary after the accidents…” Naoya took a sip of his coffee. “Yuck! It’s too strong.”

“I like my coffee strong, and I can pick him up if you’re really worried.”

“I can take the train!” Ren didn’t mean to snap, but it’s what happened. Both men turned to look at him.

“Amamiya-kun, I didn’t mean to upset you…” Naoya frowned. “I just… Don’t think you need to worry about what us adults talk about. You have your own problems, right?”

“...Right.” He bit his lip, he didn’t even get why he was agreeing.

“Hey, how about Reiji comes a little later today so you can hang out with some friends and then I’ll grab something really special for dinner?” Naoya was trying to make it up to him…? Well…

“Nah, I want to ride the train today, but… Maybe tomorrow.”

Naoya frowned, but nodded. “Alright, whatever makes you comfortable. We can talk more about school later.”

“...Alright.”

Naoya smiled at Ren. “Thanks… Well, I’m gonna go see Reiji out. You make sure to eat before you leave.”

“Yes, yes…” He watched the toast pop. “I’ll finish eating before I head out…”

“...Good.”

 

\--

 

Ren had been able to make it to school without thinking too hard on everything, but it was hard… The Kamoshida thing, Naoya and Reiji hiding something from him since he wasn’t an adult, that blonde girl in his class and the fact she was apparently linked to Kamoshida… He couldn’t help but start to space out as he thought about all of it.

Hell, it was bad enough that he was barely registering anything any teacher was saying.

“I’m the social studies teacher Mr. Ushimaru. I’ll be teaching you the rules of society this year.”

And to think it was raining too… Just like when he and Ryuji had entered that other world…

A scoff. “...You all look like you’ve been spoiled growing up.”

Was it sign? Maybe it was some sort of magic spell that made the school appear as a castle when it rained? But then why hadn’t he seen it this morning…?

“Before we learn society’s rules, maybe I should start with the rules of being a decent human being.”

Was the butterfly Naoya was dreaming of part of this? He’d sworn he’d seen a blue one… It was a different color, but there was a possibility.

“Hey, new kid.”

Ren jumped a bit at that and looked over at the teacher (had he said he was… Ushimaru?). Was he being asked a question right now? He wasn’t prepared for this at all.

“The Greek philosopher Plato divided the human soul into three parts. A soul is composed of appetite, spirit, and what else?” Yep, he was being asked a question.

Well, wasn’t he lucky his mom was into philosophy? He’d remember her reading books on the stuff all the time, giving him nuggets of information when he asked… Had she mentioned Plato before? Maybe… As for the way Plato divided the human soul…

“...Logic?” His mother used that word a lot when talking about souls and Plato.

The teacher seemed pleased. “Correct. So you knew that, huh?”

“...My mom likes philosophy.” He was pretty sure he hadn’t been heard, but oh well.

“Plato’s teacher, Socrates, said that evil is born from ignorance.” Huh, that sounded about right to Ren. “People who’ve been babied, taught that evil is due to individuality, can only become society’s scum.”

“Wow, he got it right… Is he really a delinquent?”

“He seems like a punk, but maybe he’s actually serious about studying?”

Ren smiled to himself a little. He felt just a little smarter from being able to recall the old fact from his mother and answer the question. Maybe there was a chance this would all turn out okay, after all... Even if only from an academic standpoint.

“Bizzare incidents have been occurring frequently. Those are but the actions of such scum.” Oh yikes, this teacher was taking the scum thing a little too far in Ren’s opinion. “We don’t need crude people like that in this school. Understand?”

“I’ve been told that by a lot of people, so yes, I do.” He said that quietly to avoid any confrontation, but gave a nod.

Maybe he’d been wrong, then.

 

\--

 

As Ren left the classroom, the voice of Kamoshida hit his ears. “Hey there, Takamaki.” Oh, he was talking to the girl from his class…

He could already see that Takamaki was uncomfortable when she stopped and that Kamoshida was overbearing… Gross.

“You looking for a ride home? Things have been pretty dangerous lately with all those accidents.” The smile on his face was the sleaziest one Ren had ever seen.

Takamaki looked down and away. “Sorry, I have a photoshoot today. It’s for the special summer issue, so I can’t afford to miss it…”

Kamoshida frowned at her and Ren could feel the gross intentions. “Hey, now… Being a model’s fine and dandy, but don’t work your pretty little self to the bone. You mentioned you weren’t feeling well, right? Something about appendicitis?”

Takamaki shook her head. “Yes, I keep planning to go to the hospital, but I’ve been too busy… Sorry to worry you.”

“You must be lonely too. I feel bad for keeping your best friend at practice so often.” The sentence made Ren’s blood run cold. Was he using Takamaki’s best friend to get a rise out of her or something? “That’s why I asked you out in the first place. Oh, and… Be careful around that transfer student. He’s got a criminal record, after all. If something were to happen to you…”

“...Thank you.” He could hear the discomfort in Takamaki’s voice. “Please excuse me.”

And with that, she walked away, Kamoshida letting out a noise of anger as he shook his head. Okay, there was definitely something up and that castle? It was becoming harder and harder to see it as a dream…

“I… Should just get going for now.”

 

\--

 

As Ren finally walked out of the gates, ready to head home, Ryuji cut him off with a “yo.” Looked like he wasn’t lying when he said he would come talk, then? Well, in that case, it looked like he had something pretty serious to talk about.

“What’s up?”

“I wanna talk about that castle from yesterday.” He crossed his arms as he spoke. “I tried tellin’ myself it was all just a dream… But I couldn’t do it. I can’t act like nothing happened. It’s all connected to that bastard Kamoshida, after all.”

“I was having trouble calling it a dream too, actually.” Good to know he wasn’t alone in that.

“I wanna find out what’s up with that place, no matter what.” He was furrowing his brows now… This was serious, huh? “And y;now, you’re the only person I can rely on for this stuff. So, you in?”

Well, it might be time away from Naoya… But there was already the lateness thing just the day before… Oh, what the hell. “Sure. What’s next?”

“Ooh… Looks like I managed to talk some sense into you.”

Ren rose an eyebrow. He’d been willing to go from the word start, basically… What talking of sense had happened?

“I think we should just try and retrace our steps from yesterday.” He turned to start walking. “In the meantime, you’re walkin’ to the station today, right? Let’s go together.”

“Sure…” He gave a small nod and smile. It was nice having someone to walk with…

“Lemme know if you notice any other weird buildings on the way.” Ryuji gave him a grin at that point and started to move.

Ren just had to hope this would prove fruitful.

As they walked along, Ryuji turned to look at Ren. “If a huge castle like that really exists, I’m sure we’ll find it in no time.”

“Well yeah, it would stand out like a sore thumb, don’t you think?”

“Yeah… When’d they build something like that though?” He glanced around, wheels turning in his head. “We walked that way from here, right?”

“Maybe.” Ren couldn’t say he really remembered.

“When you put it that way, I’m not so sure anymore…” Ryuji frowned, but wasn’t deterred. “...All right, this way. Lemme know if you notice something.”

And off he went again, leaving Ren to follow after.

“...Not gonna see anything, but okay.”

 

\--

 

“Huh…?” Ryuji’s eyes were wide when they found themselves back at the front gate of Shujin. “We’re at school…”

“Well, we did go on a path that’s supposed to lead to school…” Ren was starting to think the castle thing had been a fluke, if it wasn’t a dream.

“There wasn’t anything out of place along the way, right? I didn’t see no castle either…”

Out of place… Ren looked at his shoes at the memory of the puddle he’d stepped in. Hadn’t there been something weird about it when they showed up at the castle…? He remembered thinking there had to be, before he saw nothing when he turned around.

“Hey--”

“We must’ve made a wrong turn somewhere.” Ryuji looked at him, apparently having not heard Ren say anything. Great. “Let’s try again.”

“I want to go home…” This didn’t seem like it was going to work. The castle was gone and he’d almost rather forget the trouble it had caused him… Along with the power and blue room that seemed attached to it.

“C’mon, you gotta stick with me to the end.” Looked like Ryuji wouldn’t take that for an answer, then. “Let’s go.”

“...Okay, let’s go.” There was no way he would’ve won that, huh?

 

\--

 

Well, they were back at the school gate again. Just like Ren had been expecting, thanks to the lack of weirdness. Hell, maybe it did have to do with rain? Something like they slipped into an alternate water world while it rained or something…

No, wait. There was that Meta Nav thing Igor had said he put on his phone. If that blue room wasn’t a dream… Then maybe it had to do with that? Ryuji might be excited if he brought it up… But at the same time, would it be worth it? He didn’t want Ryuji to end up going there and getting killed for real.

“For real…?” Ryuju’s head sagged as he sighed that out and caught Ren’s attention. “Is it smaller than we think it is? What do you think?”

“Check your phone.” Okay, so he would hint at it, but not outright tell Ryuji about the Meta Nav. The perfect middle ground, right?

“I already did that. I didn’t see anything like it around here…” Wow, did Ryuji sound dejected… And then his eyes widened. “Huh? Phone…”

Oh, looked like he’d gotten it.

“Hey, that reminds me -- Didn’t you have a navigation app thingy on, back then?” He was ready to jump at any lead, wasn’t he?

“Navigation app?” That was a simple way to put the Meta Nav, he guessed? Not that he knew much about how the Meta Nav worked.

“I dunno if it was or not, but I heard stuff that sounded like one comin’ from your phone.” He paused just a second. “Y’know, didn’t it say stuff like “returned to the real world” or something like that?”

“I think so?”

“Lemme see your phone for a bit.”

Ren pulled it out and sighed. “Please be careful, if it breaks I don’t think I’ll be able to get another one until I move back home…”

…And he snatched it right out of Ren’s hand. Of course.

Ryuji began looking around the phone, frowning after a moment. “What’s this eyeball-lookin’ thing?”

Maybe Ren could have a little fun. “Cute logo, huh?” No, he knew it was creepy as hell.

“That’s not how I’d describe it…” Ryuji gave him a look before returning attention to the phone. “What a weird app…Oh wait, this is it!”

That was it?

Ryuji held it up to Ren with a smile. “I knew it -- It IS a navigation app! There’s even your search history!”

“Oh, so there is…”

“Oh man, I’m such a genius!” He turned the phone back to himself. “Let’s try usin’ it.”

“I dunno about this.” He had gotten the app from a creepy old man, after all.

“Why? All we’re doin’ is startin’ an app.” Ryuji was still poking around… So there was no stopping him, huh?

“Kamoshida… Shujin Academy… Pervert… Castle….” A robotic voice came from the phone. “Beginning navigation.”

“There we go!” Ryuji pumped his fist. “...Then, we went in a certain direction, and--”

And then, everything pulsed, making Ren jump.

“Hey, what’re you--” Ryuji looked around. “Huh?! What the hell?!”

The phone began to almost glitch, the eyeball having taken up the entire screen. It changed and distorted until the entire screen was red…. And the world, the school… It changed, in waves. Soon enough, it was replaced by the castle from yesterday.

“Look! It’s the castle from yesterday!” Ryuji only looked around for a second before running in, leaving Ren to follow after.

“Huh, who’ve known…” They’d actually made it back.

“We made it back… That means what happened yesterday was for real too…” Ryuji turned to him before letting out a yell. “Those clothes…!”

Ren looked down at himself and his eyes went wide. He looked at his hands and… Yep, there was no way he wasn’t in that flashy outfit from yesterday. “I don’t remember changing…”

“That happened like time too, huh?! What’s with that outfit?!”

Well… It was actually growing on Ren. He kind of felt… Snazzy. He liked feeling snazzy.

“You jelly?” Oh god, did he really just let that slip out?

“I-I ain’t jealous!” Ryuji looked to the ground. “What’s goin’ on here?! This makes no effin’ sense at all…”

“Hey!” They turned at the sound of Morgana’s voice, finding him peeking at them before making his way over. “Stop making a commotion.”

Ryuji let out a gasp. “You?!”

Morgana’s ears flattened and he shook his head. “The Shadows started acting up, so I came here wondering what it could be…”

“It was us, I’m guessing.”

“...To think you guys would come back to the entrance when you barely managed to escape.”

“What is this place?” Ryuji didn’t seem to care about Morgana’s complaint for now. “...Is it the school?”

Morgana looked to Ryuji. “That’s right.”

“But it’s a castle!” 

Ren had to agree with Ryuji. “I’ve never heard of a school that’s also a castle…” 

“This castle IS the school, though.” Morgana looked between them. “...But only to this castle’s ruler.”

“The castle’s ruler…?” Ryuji scratched his head in confusion.

The weird Kamoshida they’d seen had said he was king. Did that mean Kamoshida saw this place as a castle…?

“I think you called him Kamoshida?” Oh, looked like Ren was spot on. “It’s how his distorted heart views the school.”

“Kamoshida… Distorted?” Ryuji’s eyebrows were basically perma-furrowed in confusion now. At least, that was what Ren thought when they shared a look. “Explain it in a way that makes sense!”

Morgana have him an unimpressed look. “I shouldn’t have expected a moron to get it…”

Ryuji grit his teeth. “What’d you say?!”

Before Morgana could reply, a scream could be heard, drawing all their attention away. Was it one of those guys in the cells and cages from yesterday? With how willing Kamoshida had been to kill them, Ren wouldn’t be shocked…

“What was that?!” Ryuji’s question was filled with fear and worry. 

“It must be the slaves captive here.” Morgana stretched, acting as if it was no big deal. Ren could feel himself scowling at the cat. 

“For real?!” Another scream rang out. “Oh, shit… It’s for real! We saw other guys held captive here yesterday… I’m pretty sure they’re from our school.”

Ren’s eyes went wide as the comment. Other people had wandered in and got caught, is that was Ryuji was saying? If it was… Holy shit. This King Kamoshida was a sicker bastard than Ren had already thought him to be.

“Most likely on Kamoshida’s orders. It’s nothing out of the ordinary; it’s like that every day here.”

Ren frowned, everyday? Wait. If… If these were students, shouldn’t they have been reported missing? If they’d been captured the same day, Ren would be able to see it as the parents just thinking they’d run off. But if it was like this when Morgana had first discovered the place (which Ren had to bet was a while before he and Ryuji had)... Could these students be real?

“What’s more, you two escaped yesterday. He must have lost his temper quite a bit.”

“Don’t forget you got away too. Three people jailbreaking is probably worse to him than just two.” Otherwise, Ren had to guess Morgana was right.

Morgana thought for a moment. “Good point. He’s probably hurting the slaves in the form of a temper tantrum…”

“That son of a bitch…!”

Morgana looked at Ryuji, some concern on his features. “Ryuji…?”

“...This is bullshit!” He took a run at the doors, slamming into them as hard as he could. They didn’t budge, but they did make quite a lot of sound. “You hear me, Kamoshida?!”

“Doing that isn’t going to open it, you know…” Morgana still looked worried, but there was annoyance slipping into his features too. “Still, it seems you have your reasons.”

“Hey, Monamona! Ryuji walked back over to them, staring the cat down.

“It’s Morgana!” Well, there it went. All the worry was gone, annoyance in its place.

“Yeah, yeah… Anyway… Do you know where those voices are comin’ from…?”

“Yes, why?”

“I wanna go to them! Take me there, right now!” Ryuji had his sights set on a new goal, huh?

Morgana gave him a confused look. “You want me to take you to them?” He thought for a second before looking to Ren. “...Well, I guess I could guide you there. But only if he comes with us.”

Ren pointed to himself, eyebrows raised. “Why me?”

Ryuji gave him a look, one begging him to help him out even if he didn’t get it. Well… He could do that, but still…

“I just want to get a better look at your powers.” Morgana gave him a little smile. “Even if you don’t agree, I bet this guy’ll go on. Even if he has to go it all alone. Are you gonna leave him?”

“I never said that, I just didn’t get why you wanted me to come along.” He didn’t see himself as a big deal or anything (even though he did feel snazzy in this costume and powerful when he used Arsene).

“It’s settled then!”

Ryuji gave Ren a huge grin. “For real…?!”

“Yeah, you helped me out, so I wanna do the same.” Ren thought that was just common courtesy.

“...Thanks, man.”

“All right, let’s do this!” Morgana was more than a little excited. “Follow me!”

They followed him, away from the main doors and to the area they’d exited (maybe?). There was the vent, no mesh on the outside to  keep things out, so… Yeah, Ren was pretty sure this was where they escaped.

“This is out infiltration point.”

“Ain’t this where we escaped outta last time…?” Ryuji frowned. 

“That’s right.” Morgana nodded. “Not barging in through the entrance is one of the basics of phantom thievery.”

Ryuji frowned at him. “How’re we supposed to know about that stuff…?”

Morgana quickly jumped into the vent, using a barrel to boost himself. “I’ll make sure to teach you as we go. Come on, follow me!”

As Morgana disappeared into the vent, Ryuji placed a hand on Ren’s shoulder and turned him around. “So, uh… Sorry for draggin’ you into all of this…”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not… But I just can’t forgive that bastard Kamoshida doin’ whatever the hell he wants!” His frown became a small smile. “Really though, thanks for comin’ along. I owe you big time!”

“It’s no big deal, but alright…” Ren snorted and jumped onto the barrel. “Come on, though, Morgana’s probably waiting for us.”

Soon enough, they were back in the room off to the side of the central hall. It felt like just yesterday that this room had been their escape ticket… Now they were using it to go back into the castle (and probably into the dungeons they’d ran like hell away from, too).

“Man, this place is as creepy as it was yesterday.”

“Mmhm. Now, make sure you do exactly as I say, alright?” Morgana didn't’ seem all that phased by the creepiness of it all. Wow, Ren wished that was him. He started off and turned to look at them. “...Follow me!”

Soon enough, they were back where their adventure yesterday had started, Morgana skipping along towards the center of the area.

“Hey… We went by here when we came in the front…” Ryuji looked around at the familiar surroundings with a frown.

...And then the world seemed to shift for a moment. Between the palace and the entry hall of the school. So Morgana had been totally serious when he said this was just the way Kamoshida saw it… It was scary how distorted a place could look to someone.

“What the…?!” Ryuji looked around in shock. “I was seein’ double or something just now…! Was that Shujin?!”

“I’ve told you before. This place is your school.” Morgana turned back to lecture Ryuji. “Regardless, we don’t have the time to stand around. Who knows when a Shadow might show up. C’mon, this way.”

And with that, they all took off again, towards the dungeons.

As they ran along, Morgana called them to stop. Looked like one of those guards… Dammit, Ren was afraid of running into something like this again. Those things had been the worst part of the escape, after all.

“Darn… I had a feeling there would be guards here…” Morgana didn’t seem to keen on them either. “It looks like we won’t be able to avoid conflict from this point forward.”

“F-for real…?” Ryuji’s voice shook a bit.

“Oh well, I’ll just teach you the basics of battle right now.” Morgana was focused on Ren now. “You had better remember all of this.”

“I’m sure I will if you teach it well enough.”

“As a rule of thumb, try to ambush as many enemies as you can. Attack from behind whenever possible.” Well, that seemed simple enough. “You’ll need to rip off their masks to momentarily break the control the Palace ruler has over them.”

So these things were being controlled by Kamoshida? Were they all just brainwashed or something, then?

“If you succeed, the enemy will be caught off guard, allowing us to jump in for a preemptive attack.”

“So we wanna ambush ‘em and go for the first strike… All right, I got it!” looked like Ryuji hadn’t realized the explanation was for Ren, huh?

“Uh, you know you’re just going to be watching, right?” Morgana looked at him with a frown. “You can’t use a Persona… Anyway, let’s go!”

Ren nodded and dashed forward, his heart racing as he jumped on top of the guard, pulling at the mask. “Show me your true form!”

It didn’t take long for the guard to morph into another one of those stupid pumpkin heads and Ren sighed. Morgana had wind to deal damage to it, right? So this would probably be over before it began…

And indeed it was, Morgana summoning Zorro and destroying the creature before it even really had a chance to scream or call for help. It was kind of brutal, but it got the job done quickly and efficiently.

They kept going after that, no guard really in sight. Maybe they’d be able to make it to their final destination without too many more unneeded stops--

“Why ain’t anyone here…?” Ryuji moved to the cell he’d seen a boy in the day before with a frown. “Dammit, they were here before! Where’d they go?!”

“Quiet down!” Morgana hissed and Ren swore he saw some fur standing on end.

“Oh yeah, there were more of ‘em further in too…!” Ryuji was a little quieter now, but still pretty damn loud.

And off he ran, looking into the other cells as Ren and Morgana waited. “They might have been transferred already…”

“Transferred?”

“Yeah--”

Ryuji suddenly came their way, running as fast as he could. “Crap, I can hear footsteps comin’! Lot’s of ‘em!”

Morgana frowned. “It would be a problem if they discovered us now…” He ran to the door across from the cell he and Ren were standing at. “Hey, let’s head into that room. We should be able to hide in there until they leave.”

And with that, they all entered the room. It looked like some drab living quarters for servants or something. A bed, some benches, and a table… Nothing fancy. Actually, it was more something dirty.

“The Shadows probably won’t come in here.” Morgana sounded more than a little sure as he spoke.

Ryuji, still trying to catch his breath, looked over at Morgana. “How can you tell?”

“There’s a lack of distortion here, meaning the ruler’s control over this area is weak.” As Morgana spoke they saw the room shift to the form of a classroom for just a moment.

“Huh, makes sense that the gym teacher doesn’t have much control over a normal classroom…”

“This is a classroom…?!” Ryuji’s eyes were wide as he looked the room over.

“Do you understand now?” Morgana looked at Ryuji. “This place is another reality that the ruler’s hear projects.”

Ryuji’s face contorted into an expression of disgust. “This is Kamoshida’s reality…? Shit make no sense at all!”

Morgana hopped a bit, ready to continue trying to explain. “One could say it’s a world in which one’s distorted desires have materialized. I call such a place a “Palace.””

“A Palace…?” Ryuji still looked confused, but Ren felt he was slowly getting it.

“This is happening because he thinks the school is his own castle.”

Ryuji’s eyes widened as more things clicked into place for him. “So, it became like this ‘cause he just thought of it like that?!” He let out a less than amused laugh. “That son of a bitch!”

“You must really hate this Kamoshida guy.” Morgana placed his hands on his hips as he watched Ryuji.

Ryuji turned to Morgana. “Hate doesn’t even cover how I feel. Everything is that asshole’s fault!

Morgana looked away, ears flattening. “I don’t know what happened between you two, but don’t let your emotions get the better of you. His lackeys are everywhere inside.”

Ren cleared his throat. “Um, actually, I have a question, if you don’t mind.”

Morgana looked to him. “You’re curious about your outfit, aren’t you?”

“Kind of, yeah.”

“Yeah, I’m curious as hell about it too.” Ryuji crossed his arms and looked Ren up and down.

“That’s also because of this world.” Morgana said that as if it made total sense (even though it really didn’t).

“More stuff that makes no sense.” Looks like Ryuji would be happy to voice that, too.

“Anything distorts according to how the ruler pleases within his Palace. A school can turn into a castle like this, after all.” Still didn’t make much sense to Ren. “In order to prevent such distortions, one must hold a powerful will of rebellion. Your appearance is a manifestation of that. It’s the image of rebellion that you hold within.”

This is what Ren saw as rebellion, then…? He hadn’t thought of it like that, but it sort of did make sense. He’d awoken to the power to push back against unfair adults, after all…

Ryuji groaned, apparently not getting it quite as much (Ren couldn’t blame him, since it wasn’t like he’d gone through it). “I’m so fed up with all this! I’m more curious about you than his clothes! What the hell are you anyways?!”

Ren rose an eyebrow at Ryuji. Hadn’t he said he was curious about the clothes just a little while ago…?

Morgana hissed a bit, his fur standing on end. “I’m a human -- an honest-to-god human!”

Ryuji gave him an unimpressed look. “No, you’re obviously more like a cat!”

“This is, well…” Morgana looked away. “It’s because I lost my true form… I think.”

“You think?”

Morgana turned to look at them again, hands on his hips. “But I do know how to regain my true form. The reason why I snuck in here was for a preliminary investigation of those means.”

“And…?” Ren rose an eyebrow

Morgana’s ears flattened in shame. “Well, I ended up getting caught as I’m sure you remember...  Besides, I’ve been tortured by Kamoshida too! I’m gonna make him pay for sure!”

Ryuji shook his head, pulling away from the wall he’d started to lean on as Morgana spoke. “What is this, a comic book? This is seriously crazy…”

“It might be, but we’re in it for those people, right?”

Ryuji looked at Ren and nodded. “...Yeah.”

“If we’re gonna keep going, we should hurry along.” Morgana looked over at Ren. “I’ll be counting on your skills this time too, rookie. Got it?”

“Got it--”

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna force it all on you, I thought it might help, so…” Ryuji reached into his pocket and produced… A gun?! “I brought this just in case! It’s a model gun though, so it can only make sounds!”

Morgana shook his head. “That’s a toy!”

Ryuji turned to the cat (human? cat-human?). “But it looks totally real, so it’ll at least fake ‘em out.” He turned back to Ren. “I brought some medicine too. You know what they say: “Providin’ is pre… something.” Huh? Huh?”

Morgana crossed his arms as he glared at Ryuji. “So you were planning this from the start… Well, fine. If you’re ready to go, we’ll resume our infiltration.”

Ren took the gun Ryuji was still holding out to him, along with the vial of medication sitting with it. He would try to find uses for these, even if the gun wasn’t going to be able to do much in the long run. Maybe he could at least use it to scare Shadows off?

...Either way, it looked like it was time to get going again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, Ryuji awakens, Shiho and Mishima appear, the first confidant is established. Lots of good stuff coming soon (I hope lmao)


	6. Captain Kidd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally done.... I hate Kamoshida and Ryuji's overuse of "For Real" so much..........
> 
> Anyway, character tags will hint at confidants/Phantom Thieves when it comes to P5. Wonder who's tagged that isn't either in canon...?
> 
> Non-tagged characters this chapter: Shadow Kamoshida, Hanasaki

Naoya was too happy to get off of work early that day. He knew Ren would be taking the train home, but maybe… Maybe he would have time to go pick him up instead? He was still a little worried with all the accidents that’d be happening. If his charge was in one of those accidents, he wasn’t sure what he’d do.

“He might be mad if I show up, but it should be fine…” He looked at his watch and hummed. He had time to get there right before the end of classes.

Naoya just had to hope Ren wasn’t in the middle of anything important when he got there, like talking to a teacher or a friend. He wouldn’t want to come across as overprotective to friends and wouldn’t want the teachers to think he didn’t trust him… That was just about the last thing he wanted.

“See you tomorrow, Hanasaki-san.” He gave the owner a wave, turning to walk away.

“Thank you for the hard work, Toudou-san. Have a nice night!” 

Naoya hummed a bit as he took a step out of the shop and… Oh shit, was that what he thought it was? It was, it was that damn golden butterfly yet again. Was Philemon going to keep bothering him? It wasn’t like Naoya had had any time to look into whatever was going on with the Velvet Room yet…

Hell, he didn’t even know where to find a door to the Velvet Room to check it out! Philemon wasn’t giving him anytime to do anything and it was really starting to get on his nerves. The fact he wasn’t even waiting for the night this time made it even worse...

“Toudou-san, are you alright?” Hanasaki’s voice hit his ears and he grimaced. He had to walk forward, didn’t he.

“Just fine, Hanasaki-san! Just spaced out for a second!” He turned and flashed her a smile before walking towards the butterfly.

As he got closer, he could already feel his consciousness getting dragged towards Philemon’s realm. As he got close enough to fully lose control of his body, it dropping towards the ground like a limp puppet, he had one thought.

_ How much back talk can I give a god without getting smited? _

 

\--

 

After exiting the Safe Room and realizing how important it would be stay hidden, Ren and company were on their way again. Things were starting to get really hard, Ren had to think. He was trying to hold back on Arsene, seeing as every use made him feel more and more exhausted, but… He was still getting close to his limit, he was pretty sure.

At least Morgana was doing better.

They ran along for a while longer, Ren learning that the gun Ryuji had brought along would actually come in handy (looked like the Shadows would think of it like a real gun). Maybe that would help him get a little farther without collapsing where he stood… That would be nice, maybe he could rest up after this.

If he rested up he could question how Morgana’s slingshot worked the same as a gun in more depth, too. That would be nice… Being awake enough to question things that didn’t make sense. Not to mention the fact it would probably make it easier for him to understand the idea of an All-out Attack (especially since he was apparently in charge of deciding whether or not they’d do them).

But no, that didn’t matter right now. They were finally at their destination.

“All right, this is it.” Morgana seemed happy to be there and Ren would almost say he was too, if… Well, it wasn’t so creepy looking.

“Kamoshida’s… Training Hall… of Love…?” Ryuji read the sign, his face full of disgust. “What kinda bullshit is this?!”

Ren shook his head. “That sounds gross, but… I guess we should head in, huh?”

“Don’t have much of a choice if Ryuji wants to get a closer look!” Morgana clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Unless he wants to turn back…”

“No way would I wanna do that! Come on, let’s go!”

Ren nodded and made his way to the door, pushing it open. As soon as they walked into the area, they could hear the groans and screams of the tortured slaves… Oh that just sounded bad, didn’t it?

“This voice… Where’s is comin’ from…?” Ryuji frowned, worry clear on his face.

Ren looked around then at Morgana who just gave a shrug (at least Ren was pretty sure it was a shrug). Looked like all they could do was go farther in, then… He was sure they’d find the source of the voice if they did that. He took a running start down the hall, doing his best to fight off any uncomfortable feeling that tried to crawl in. No way was he going to get cold feet on Ryuji now!

“Oh, is it comin’ from over there?!” Ryuji’s voice made Ren come to a stop. He could see what looked like a giant cell right next to them. Oh no…

They made there way over and were greeted by the sight of four slaves, all clinging to the net as they were beaten mercilessly by guards. They screamed out in pain, but didn’t seem to try and do anything to stop it, instead clinging as hard as they could to the net. It was almost like they felt there was no escape so they might as well endure… It was making Ren sick to his stomach just thinking about it.

“Dammit! This is bullshit!” Looked like it bothered Ryuji just as much.

Morgana sent him a look. “How many times do I have to tell you to keep your voice down?!”

Ryuji ignored him, instead looking around, as if trying to really take in what he was seeing and make sure it was real. “But this is beyond messed up!”

“You’re right, but we should keep our voices down if we don’t want to get discovered…” Ren felt that would be bad with how much his body was aching.

Ryuji shook his head and looked to the bars again. “How do I open this…?”

“Stop it…!” One of the players, wearing shorts whimpered this out as he walked into view. “Leave us alone… It’s useless…”

“Huh?!” Ryuji’s eyes went wide as he approached the ‘slave’ and another approached.

“If we stay obedient, we won’t be executed like you guys!” The new slave said this as if it made the beatings okay… Ren wasn’t sure what to think of Kamoshida if he did this. Or maybe it was more he didn’t know just how badly he should think of him.

Ryuji grabbed the bars of the cell. “You’re tellin’ me you wanna stay in a place like this?!”

“Wait a minute…” Morgana sounded more than a little annoyed. “Were you planning on taking these guys out of here?”

Something about Morgana saying that made Ren think back to his question from earlier. Were these guys really students?

Ryuji turned to Morgana. “We can’t just leave ‘em here!”

Morgana shook his head. “How stupid can you be…?”

“What?!”

Morgana sighed as Ren turned around. “These are only humans in Kamoshida’s cognition. They aren’t real humans that have entered from reality. They’re different from you two.” 

Oh Ren had totally called it.

Ryuji scratched the back of his head. “Cognition…?”

Morgana sent him a glare. “It means there’s no point in saving them! They’re different from the real ones in the real world.” He calmed down just a bit. “You could say that these are extremely similar-looking dolls.”

“The hell?! Why’s it gotta be so complicated?!” Ryuji crossed his arms. “So the school’s a castle, and the students are slaves… It’s so on point that it makes me laugh.”

“...I don’t know much about this school, but if it’s on point I’m worried.” Ren could feel the frown on his face.

Ryuji scoffed. “This really is the inside of that asshole’s head…!”

Morgana jumped down from the box he was sitting on and made his way to the bars. “Still, this is horrible. It must mean he treats them as slaves in the real world too.”

Ryuji turned to the bars, eyes wide. “In the real world too…?” His eyes went wide with realization. “Wait, I know these guys…”

“You do?” Ren rose an eyebrow.

“They’re members of the volleyball team -- The one Kamoshida coaches for!”

Morgana’s look was solemn. “They must be physically abused every day… There’s no way they’d be so beat up normally.”

“You know a lot about the real world too, Morgana…” Ren held up his hands when Morgana sent him a glare. 

“Well, of course I do! I used to be a human…”

“Don’t tell me…” Ryuji seemed to still be on the volleyball players, understandably. “They’re going through similar shit in reality?!”

Morgana looked up at Ryuji. “Most likely. I mean, this proves that Kamoshida thinks of them as slaves.”

“So it might be for real…” Ryuji frowned. “I heard that Kamoshida’s usin’ physical punishment. They’re just rumors, but… If they’re true, wouldn’t this be something to report to the police…?”

“That’s a good point…” Ren didn’t care much for the police, but the officers yesterday had seemed… Okay?

Ryuji pulled out his phone. “I’ll use these guys as evidence. If all goes well, we can take down the asshole Kamoshida…!” He held it up and his eyes went wide. “...Huh? It’s not workin’?! Wee can use the navigation app, but the camera’s a no go?!”

“A navigation app?” Morgana sounded more than a little confused. Well, Ren doubted a little cat monster would use something like that to get into the Palace…

“That’s what we used to come here.” Ryuji turned to Ren. “What about yours?”

Ren pulled out his phone and…? The app wouldn’t even open. “Not working here either, sorry. We’ll need to try and do something else.”

“Whatever you do is fine, but we’re gonna get caught is we stand around like this. We need to head back!” Morgana had a point there.

Ryuji grabbed the bars and began staring at the slaves. “Hang on a sec! There’s no other way… I’ll just memorize their faces before goin’ home!”

“Sounds good, let’s just be quick.”

“Mkay, let’s check the cells ‘round there.” Ryuji said this and took off for the next cell, Ren following after.

The cell has three volleyball players in it, all trying to run towards a pot of water. Too bad the track they were on was constantly moving away from it and towards some sort of spiked crusher… It was totally designed for them to fail.

“W-water…”

“Urgh… Please, no more…”

Ryuji made a sound of disgust. “Not givin’ athletes water even for tough trainin’ is a common thing in the real world too… That sack of shit…! I’m gonna try and memorize all these guys’ faces before we go back…”

Ren nodded. “Take your time.”

Ryuji stared at the boys for a while before turning to Ren. “Mkay, I’m done. Let’s check and see if there’s any more!”

Without a word, Ren started to move again, coming to a stop when he saw a volleyball player standing by the cell door that led to the water torture. Maybe he would be someone Ryuji would be interested in speaking to?

“I don’t know why you guys are here… But just leave us alone…”

“What’re you talkin’ about?!” Ryuji was getting more upset and Ren couldn’t help but feel the same. “You’re seriously okay with this?!” He clicked his tongue. “..I guess there’s no point tryin’ to talk to ‘em…”

“Come on you two, we need to hurry up, before Kamoshida’s men figure out we’re here!”

“Right Morgana, sorry.” And with that, Ren started down the hall again. There was another cell not too far down, but… If he was being honest he kind of didn’t want to look. THe kinds of things they’d already seen had been horrible and he wasn’t sure how much more he could take.

But, this was so they could try and help out the real ones, right?

He looked into the room and, while there was a volleyball net, this was probably the thing hardest for Ren to ground in reality in his head. A volleyball player, tied up by his legs, hands bound behind him, as a high power cannon launched volleyballs at him. His grunts and groans told Ren all he needed to know about it too…

“It hurts… It hurts…!”

“The hell…?” Sakamoto looked at Ren with wide eyes before turning back to the sight. “This ain’t trainin’ at all… It’s just violence! This means he’s been doin’ something similar in reality too, right…? Damn that bastard…!”

“Hurry it up…” Ren looked away, feeling sick to his stomach. The more he saw and heard, the more he wanted to punch Kamoshida or something. That wouldn’t be good seeing as he was on probation…

“I know, I know… Just gimme a sec. I’ll memorize ‘em quick.”

“Hey, are you done yet?!” Morgana’s annoyed voice his their ears. “We’re cutting it close here!”

“Don’t freak me out like that, you goddamn moron!” Ryuji snapped at Morgana without even turning to look, eyes still trained on the player. “Anyways, I got all of ‘em!”

“Then let’s stop wasting time! We need to scram!” Wow, Morgana had seemed the type to argue when called a moron… Maybe not when they were in danger, then?

Ren nodded and they started for the exit. Looked like they’d done just about everything they could that day. Morgana’s calls to hurry just made him pick up the pace. No way was he getting caught again. No way in heaven or in hell.

“All right, we’re back. We gotta get outta here quick!” Ryuji was totally on board leaving now that they were out of the training hall, it seemed.

“The watch post near the training hall has ceased reporting!” A guard’s voice run out, making Ryuji jump and Ren flinch. Shit… “Chances of intruder activity are extremely high! All personnel, increase security measures!”

As those words were yelled, a guard started their way, patrolling a nearby bridge. They barely even had a chance to hide…

Morgana clicked his tongue. “We’ve stayed here too long… Come on, let’s get out of here!”

And with that, they all went running, hoping to avoid anymore fights that day.

 

\--

 

“...Toudou-kun…!” When Naoya’s eyes opened, Hanasaki was hovering over him, concern written all over her face. “Are you alright? You suddenly collapsed.”

He sat up with a groan, falling to the ground like that hurt like a bitch… “I’m fine, but please tell me you didn’t call an ambulance or anything…”

“Well, I was about to, but…” She held out his phone, looking more than a little sheepish. “I ended up calling the three most-recent contacts of yours instead.”

“Three of them?”

“Well, the two most recent contacts didn’t answer.” Hanasaki pushed the phone into his hands. “But, um, someone by the name of Sakura is on his way to make sure you don’t pass out on your way home. O-or take you to the hospital if he thinks you need it.”

_ So Amamiya-kun and Reiji didn’t answer... _

“I don’t need it, I was just tired and it caught up to me.” Naoya stood up, Hanasaki helping him the entire way. “Please tell me you didn’t leave a voicemail for either of the people who didn’t pick up.”

“The… Um… Amamiya person didn’t have a voicemail set up, but I did leave one for the--”

Naoya held up his hand. “That’s all I need to know, thank you Hanasaki-san.”

“I’m sorry, Toudou-san, I just didn’t know what else to do--”

“No, you’re fine, thank you.” He gave her a smile and did his best not to sound upset. “I’m glad you didn’t just leave me laying there.”

But now he was kind of wishing he’d  _ actually  _ talked back to Philemon.

 

\--

 

“The exit’s this way! Let’s hurry!” Morgana looked back at the two when they finally made it to the stairs near the entry hall. Thank god, they were almost done…

They rushed to the middle of the hall, only to be cut off by none other than Shadow Kamoshida, with a normal guard and another in gold beside him. Shit… That didn’t look good.

“...You knaves again?” The Shadow’s voice was full of annoyance. “To think you’d make the same mistake again. You’re hopeless!”

Ryuji wasn’t scared this time, likely still feeling the anger from earlier. “The school ain’t your castle! I’ve memorized their faces real good. You’re goin’ down!”

Shadow Kamoshida gave a grin. “It seems it’s true when they say “barking dogs seldom bite.” How far the star runner of the track team has fallen.”

“The hell are you gettin’ at?!”

“I speak of the “Track Traitor” who acted in violence, ending his teammates’ dreams.” The Shadow seemed to be enjoying this. “Oh, I can only imagine the pain of the others who were dragged under with your… Selfish act.”

The fight seemed to leave Ryuji, being replaced by… Shame? Sadness? It was hard to tell what, the small noise he made told Ren he was upset by this talk…

“Violence?” Had Ryuji really gotten violent at some point? If he had… Was it like Ren’s predicament with the suing?

“What a surprise. So you’re accompanying him without knowing anything at all?” Shadow Kamoshida turned to look at Ren. “He betrayed his teammates and crushed their hopes, yet he still carries on as carefree as ever.”

“That’s not true!” Ryuji’s head hung low after his reply. Ryuji…

“You’ve come along with this fool and are now going to end up dead… How unlucky of you.” The king turned to the Golden Guard, cutting off any communication with Ren and company. “Go. Kill them all. Don’t sully my castle with garbage.”

At the raise of a sword from the Golden guard, the others transformed into Shadows more akin to what they’d fought before. Only… Ren was pretty sure they’d never faced red-eyed creatures like this… They almost looked like bicorns, if he had to give them a name.

Ryuji let out a frustrated noise. “Goddammit…”

Morgana and Ren moved in front of him. “Ryuji, move!”

Soon enough, they’d pushed Ryuji back, only for the creatures to surround them. This was not going to be good….

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you ‘cause King Kamoshida told us! I’ll kill ‘cause that’s what he wants!” The way the guard Shadow yelled it out made Ren’s blood go cold. This thing was serious…

Their attacks easily chipped them down… Ren had started to feel he recovered a bit after not using Arsene, but he still decided against it. Maybe he could be smart about this and kill them with his knife and gun…

He lunged at one, but it didn’t seem to do much. Morgana’s attack following the same pattern… Dammit, he should’ve told Morgana to heal. 

It didn’t matter, though, seeing as the next attacks they took knocked them both to the ground. Shit…

It seemed Shadow Kamoshida hadn’t left, as he stepped on Morgana, making the creature cry out. “You piece of--”

Ren tried to get up, to do anything to at least get Morgana out of his predicament, but the golden guard’s foot pushed him down. He felt like his back was going to break when Shadow Kamoshida turned to look at Ryuji.

“I bet you simply came here on a whim and ended up like this. Isn’t that right?”

Ryuji shook his head, his voice coming out panicked. “No…”

It was Shadow Kamoshida’s turn to shake his head, it seemed. “What a worthless piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly… How dare you raise your hand at me. Though it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising track practice?”

Ryuji fell forward, hands hitting the ground. “It wasn’t no practice -- it was physical abuse! You just didn’t like our team!”

Kamoshida sneered down at him. “It was nothing but an eyesore! The only one who needs to achieve results is me! The coach who got fired was hopeless too… Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would’ve settled it with only breaking his star’s leg.”

Ryuji looked up at him, eyes wide. “...What?”

“Do you need me to deal with your other leg too? The school will call it self-defense anyway!” The Shadow’s mocking tone made Ren’s skin crawl.

“Dammit… Am I gonna lose again…?” Ryuji sounded upset as his head hung low again. “Not only can I not run anymore… The track team is gone too ‘cause of this asshole…!”

Morgana looked at Ryuji. “So that’s why…”

Shadow Kamoshida brought his foot down as hard as he could into Morgana’s back. “Once these two are deal with, you’re next.” He finished off his statement with a deranged laugh, the pleasure he was gaining from all this obvious.

“Ryuji!” Morgana’s call was desperate, like he was trying to break through his negative fog.

“Stand up for yourself!” All Ren could do was try and help.

“...You’re right.” Ryuji’s head began to slowly raise. “Everything that was important to me was taken by him… I’ll never get ‘em back…!”

Shadow Kamoshida obviously didn’t see any of this as a threat, a smug grin still on his face. “Stay there and watch. Look on as these hopeless scum die for nothing because they sided with trash like you.”

Ryuji rose to his feet. “No… That’s what you are… All you think about is using people… You’re the real scumbag, Kamoshida!”

Shadow Kamoshida turned to his guard as Ryuji approached with no fear. “What are you doing? Silence him!”

Ryuji sent a glare as he pointed at Kamoshida. “Stop lookin’ down on me with that stupid smile on your face!”

“ _ You made me wait quite a while. _ ” A voice with the same otherworldly tone of Arsene echoed through the air as Ryuji gripped his head, eyes yellow. “ _ You seek power, correct? Then let us form a pact.” _

Ryuji squirmed on the ground, gripping his head and clawing at the ground. Ren was even sure he saw some spit dribble from his mouth, him unable to swallow it all as it built up.

“ _ Since your name has been disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc…? The “other you” who exists within desires it thus…”  _ The voice (one that sounded similar to Ryuji’s own now that Ren thought on it) continued on. “ _ I am thou, thou art I… There is no turning back… The skill of rebellion is your flag henceforth!” _

As those last words were shouted, Ryuji looked straight forward again. There was a mask on his face now. It looked like a skull and there was a fire in the eyes behind the mask… This was like when Ren had awoken to Arsene, wasn’t it?

The golden guard made a sound of annoyance. “What can you do…? Cower in fear and watch!” As he said that, he rose the sword above, ready to end Ren’s life.

Ryuji stood, groaning as he pulled on the mask. Finally it came free, with a shriek and a sudden splatter of blood. Then… Ryuji erupted into flames, wilder than the ones that had consumed Ren before… It seemed fitting.

Soon enough, they had dissipated, blowing back the guards. Standing there was Ryuji, now in a costume that surely showed his form of rebellion. Behind him was what looked like a pirate, a skull head and a ship underneath him. That was his Persona…?

Ryuji looked up, a grin on his face. Seemed like that elated feeling upon awakening wasn’t just Ren, then… 

Shadow Kamoshida let out a noise of disgust. “This one as well?!”

Ryuji looked at his arms, the grin still in place. “Right on… Wassup, Persona… This effin’ rocks!”

Morgana and Ren jumped up as Ryuji spoke at the Shadow. Thank god for that timing….

“Now that I go this power, it’s time for payback…” Ryuji cracked his knuckles. “Yo, I’m ready… Bring it!”

They turned to face the Shadows with Ryuji. If all three of them had Personas, they were gonna be able to handle this!

The golden guard let out a noise of anger. “Don’t mock me, you brat!” With a slam of his sword on the ground, he changed into a creature in red armor riding atop a black horse. Looked like the Shadow was getting serious.

Ryuji pointed at the creature, ready for the fight. “Blast him away… Captain Kidd!”

“What troublemakers that bother King Kamoshida with trifle matters!” The gold guard (or, Ren guessed he should call him the guard captain now that he wasn’t gold) sounded more than a little angry.

“Kamoshida’s cognition ain’t changin’ right? Then I’ll act like the troublemaker I am!” Ryuji looked to his Persona. “Let’s do this, Captain Kidd!”

The guard captain summoned two of the two-horned beasts and Ryuji easily knocked the both of them down with Zio. Oh thank god he could handle those… Ryuji was already proving to be a great asset to the team. When he took one out fully with a pipe, Ren couldn’t help but be impressed.

With the help of a Cleave from Arsene, Ren took out the other beast. Looked like the guard captain was all on his own. Morgana’s Garu attack might not’ve been the most impressive, but it did do some good damage. There was no way the guard captain was gonna last long.

He attacked Morgana, making the poor thing reel back with a meow. Ren had noted by now that Morgana wasn’t the toughest cookie, so he’d need to make sure to keep an eye on that through the rest of this battle… Didn’t want the one with Dia to fall, right?

Ryuji threw out another Zio, decent damage again… Ren tried Eiha, but it barely did anything… Dammit, it resisted that, then? At least Morgana was able to finish it with another Garu… No need for healing when it was that close to done for, right?

“I am… A loyal subject… Of the glorious King Kamoshida…” The captain was barely clinging on, not even able to attack. “So why… Have I lost…?!”

Ryuji held his pipe on his shoulder, a grin on his now masked face. “It just proves that Kamoshida ain’t anything special.”

The creature returned to the golden form and fell back as Ryuji panted. Looked like it’d taken a lot out of him… That was understandable, Ren’d wanted to pass out when he got home the previous day (though that could also have something to do with the fact Naoya had been pissed).

“Hey…”

Ryuji looked up at Shadow Kamoshida through his exhaustion. “...How ‘bout that?!”

“Whoa…” Morgana’s eyes were wide as he looked at the punk. “So Ryuji had the potential too…”

“Even if you apologize now… I ain’t forgiving you…!” Ryuji was still focused on Shadow Kamoshida.

The Shadow didn’t seem phased, of if he was he was hiding it. “I told you that this is my castle. It seems you still don’t understand…”

He rose his arms and… Was that Takamaki? Ren had never seen her wear a bikini like that or cat ears and honestly… From the two times he’d seen her, she didn’t seem the type. Sure she kinda had that exotic look thanks to her hair and eyes, but she’d been very quiet and more angry than anything when he’d seen her…

“Wh-- Takamaki?!” Ryuji’s eyes went wide at the sight of her.

“Oh…!” Seemed like Morgana had taken interest… “Wha… What a meow-velous and beautiful girl…!”

Takamaki(?) leaned against Shadow Kamoshida, Ryuji’s eyes still wide. “What’s going on…?!”

Ren turned to Ryuji with a frown. “Something seems off.”

Ryuji looked to Ren. “Yeah, now that you mention it… But why is she even here?!”

They looked back to Shadow Kamoshida and Takakami(?), only to see Kamoshida grabbing her chin. The fact she seemed so… Into it and so submissive clashed with the face Ren saw her make when she got in his car… Was this really Takamaki? He was having trouble believing it.

“Hey! Let go of her, you perv!”

Shadow Kamoshida turned his head to Ryuji with a sneer. “How many times must I tell you until you understand? This is MY castle -- A place which I can do whatever I want. Everyone wishes to be loved by me.”

“Loved by you…?” Ren made a disgusted face as Kamoshida turned away from Takamaki(?) and back towards them.

“...That is, everyone besides slow-witted thieves like you.”

“Takamaki! Say somethin’!”

“Calm down, Ryuji!” Morgana seemed to have snapped out of his oogling. “It seems that girl isn’t the real one. She’s the same as those slaves-- A being made from Kamoshida’s cognition of her!”

Shadow Kamoshida gave them a grin. “Are you jealous? Well, I’m not surprised. Women aren’t drawn to problematic punks like you.”

“Dammit…!” It was clear Ryuji’s issue was less with what Shadow Kamoshida said and more… Everything else about how he saw Takamaki.

“Clean them up this instant!”

More guards appeared, making them all take a step back. 

“We’re outnumbered… let’s scram before we get surrounded!” Morgana didn’t need to say that twice.

“We’re not gonna do anything and just run?!” Okay, maybe he would need to say it twice.

“Just shut up and go!” Ren turned on his heel. Ryuji could yell at him for being a coward or whatever later.

“Thank god you’ve got a level head.”

Ryuji let out a noise in frustration. “...Fine.” He looked at Shadow Kamoshida one last time. “We’ll expose what you really are, no matter what! You better be ready for us…!”

The Shadow let out a cackle. “I was beginning to get bored of torturing the ones here! Come at me whenever you want, if you don’t care about your life!” And he finished it off with yet another cackle…

Morgana looked at Ryuji. “Ignore him. Let’s go!”

And with that, they ran off, making their way to and out of the vent. It’d be kind of scary, honestly… Ren had been afraid they wouldn’t lose the guards, but they’d done it. Now all that was left was to go home and rest up for the day, right?

Ryuji stood from his position of leaning on his knees. “Anyways! I don’t remember changin’ into this!”

“It looks good on you.” It fit him well, Ren had to say.

“Uhh… Should I be happy about that?” 

“I think so.”

“I’m not so sure…” Ryuji shook his head before looking Ren over once again. “...Then again, it ain’t as bad as yours.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Before Ryuji could reply, the voice of one of their pursuer’s hit their ears. “Did you find them?!”

Morgana suddenly shot up. “Quiet!”

Another pursuer spoke then. “No. Search that way!”

After a second of pause, Ryuji began to speak again. “So what’s goin’ on? I’m completely lost, man…!”

Morgana crossed his arms. “I told you before. When a Persona-user opposes a Palace’s ruler and becomes a threat to them, this happens. It’s to prevent you from being affected by distortions.”

“Is this… A skull?” Ryuji touched his mask with a frown.

“Your appearance reflects your inner self. It’s the rebel that slumbers within… Not that you’ll get it.” Morgana did not have faith in Ryuji, did he?

“Nope…” Looked like Ryuji didn’t have faith in Ryuji either.

Morgana shook his head. “Then stop asking questions and accept what you see for what it is.”

Ryuji crossed his arms as he looked down at Morgana. “Easy for you to say.” After a pause, he gasped. “Wait, we’re in deep shit!”

“I said to be quiet!”

“We might’ve gotten away here, but we’re still screwed with Kamoshida at the real school…” His voice was quiet again, but the panic was clear. 

“That’s quite sharp of you!” Morgana paused. “...For being an idiot. Relax. The Kamoshida in reality can’t possibly know about what happens here. A Shadow is the true sel that is suppressed-- A side of one’s personality they don’t want to see.”

Ryuji scratched his nose. “...So we’re okay?”

“Did the Kamoshida in reality remember about the execution?” When Ryuji’s eyes went wide in realization Morgana seemed pleased. “There you have it.”

Ryuji looked to Ren. “All right! Now that we know that, all we gotta do it--”

“Wait. I guided you as promised. It’s your turn to cooperate with me.” Oh, so Morgana wanted something more out of this? “That’s why I was super nice about teaching you idiots everything.”

“Huh?” Ryuji looked confused. “Cooperate?”

Morgana looked away in annoyance. “Don’t you remember? I originally came here for an investigation. I need to erase the distortion from my body and regain my real form! That’s why we must delve deep into Mementos and--”

“Whoa, hold up.” Ryuji held out a hand to stop him. “What’re you goin’ on and on about? We never said anything about helpin’ you out.”

“Huh?” Morgana just about fell over and looked to Ren. “Don’t tell me… Are you not going to repay the hospitality I showed you? Especially you! You’re going to up and leave, even though you’re already part of my master plan?!”

“What plan?” He didn’t remember being told about a plan.

“Is it because I’m not human…? Because I’m like a cat…?” No, it was because Ren didn’t know he was part of a plan. “Is that why you’re making a fool of me?!”

“We’re busy!” Well, at least Ryuji didn’t push the cat thing… “Thanks for everything, cat. You’ve got guts, bein’ a cat and all!” Oh, spoke too soon. “See you around!”

And with that, both Ryuji and Ren made for the exit. Instead of asking about the plan they were just gonna leave, huh? Well, seeing as they were still stupid teenagers, maybe that should’ve been expected.

“Hey! What the hell?! Ugh, seriously! Why’re you wrapping this up like everything’s all hunky-dory?!” Morgana’s yells could be heard as they got farther away. “Oh hell no! Get back here!”

Too bad for Morgana, they were already done for the day.

“You have returned to the real world. Welcome back.”

“...Thank god. We’re back.” Ryuji sounded more than a little relieved as he leaned against the nearby fans. “I dragged you around a lot, huh? ...Sorry, man.”

“It’s fine, glad to help.”

Ryuji let out a groan. “I’m dead tired… How you holdin’ up?”

He’d be honest… “I could use a nap.”

“Me too… Man, I’m gonna sleep like a rock when I get home.” He perked up pretty quickly after saying that. “But damn, if what we saw was for real, this is gonna get good! I totaly remember the faces of the guys Kamoshida was treatin’ like slaves.”

“That is good, maybe we’ll be able to do something about it.”

“Yeah! Once we make ‘em fess up to any physical abuse, Kamoshida will be done.” Ryuji nodded surely. “So… Wanna help me look for those guys or any witnesses?”

“Nah.” He wanted to say yes, but he couldn’t risk getting in trouble…

“No hesitation at all?! C’mon, just hear me out.” Ryuji looked away and at the ground. “Hey, so… If you’re thinkin’ of layin low ‘cause you got a record, I don’t think that’ll help… Everyone already knows. They totally got you pegged as a criminal.”

Ren’s brow furrowed. “How’d that happen?”

Ryuji crossed his arms, anger clear on his face. “Kamoshida opened his damn mouth.”

“A teacher did that…?” Ren really didn’t want to believe he went to a school where a teacher would do that.

“No one else besides a teacher could’ve leaked it that fast!” Ryuji had a point there. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a student of a club; that asshole just wrecks things he doesn’t agree with. Just like he did with me…!”

“Oh yeah, the leg thing…”

Ryuji looked more sad than angry now. “No one’ll take anything I say seriously. Still, those rumors about him gettin’ physical might be real.”

“Yeah…”

“And after seein’ Kamoshida’s distorted-heart thing in person, there’s no way I can just sit back!” Damn, this was making it hard for Ren not to go along with it.

“I feel you, but…” There was so much on the line for him if this went wrong.

“You gotta do this! I’ll help out too…!” Ryuji was going to push for Ren’s help until the end, wasn’t he?

Ren thought for a moment before giving a small nod. “Yeah, alright, fine…”

“I’m countin’ on you! Don’t worry; I’m hyped about this too!” Ren was pretty sure he’d made it clear that he wasn’t hyped in any way shape or form…

...But Ren could sense a lot of trust coming from Ryuji. Maybe he could even call it a bond of trust…? Yeah, that was a good way to put it. That seemed like it’d be a good thing, if they were going to be doing this together. He just had to hope that trust would help more than just them having each other’s backs… He felt this would get messy.

The growl of a stomach pulled Ren from his thoughts and Ryuji began to speak. “Oh… Right. I haven’t eaten anything since lunch.”

“Same here…”

“Well, it’d be weird splittin’ off now, so why don’t we grab a bite somewhere?”

“What kind of food?” He had to admit, he was too hungry not to go along.

“Mean, man.” Ryuji turned to exit the alley and smiled at Ren. “Just follow me. I mean, I totally gotta hear about your past!”

“No promises, but let’s go.”

 

\--

 

“...And that’s what happened.”

Ryuji looked at Ren, his eyes wide. “WHAT?! The hell, man! How much shittier can that asshole get?!”

“It’s in the past…” That was about all Ren could say, right? It was in the past and he just needed to make it a year here. Then he could go home and forget about it all.

“Are you for real? If it was me, I wouldn’t calm down until I punched that dick in the face.” That did sound like something Ren would expect from Ryuji in the short amount of time they knew each other… He returned to his bowl. “So… You left your hometown and… You’re livin’ here now, huh?”

“Yeah, with Toudou-san…” He took a bite of his food. “He’s basically the only adult who trusts me and I almost messed that up, too…”

“We might be more alike than I originally thought.”

“What did you do?” He felt it had to be something, if he felt they were alike in some way…

Ryuji turned to Ren, eyes wide. “I don’t got a record like you do.”

“Oh…” Then Ren was really having trouble seeing it.

“I mean, that’s not the point.” He looked back at the bowl. “I guess it’s how we’re treated like a pain in the ass by the people around us, like we don’t belong. And… We have that one person we can count on, but we’ve almost let ‘em down… I did something stupid at school before, too.”

He finished the bowl quickly and turned to look at Ren. “The place you’re livin’ now is in… I can’t remember, but you’ve gotta take the subways, right? It’s rush hour right now, so I suggest you kill some time before headin’ home.”

“Oh, okay, thanks…”

“Yeah--” Ryuji looked at Ren’s bowl and frowned as he reached for the ginger and placed more on top of it. “What the hell, man. You barely touched your food.”

“What are you doing?”

“Just lemme do it. I gotta thank you for helpin’ me. Anyways, I got your back like you got mine from tomorrow on.” He gave Ren a smile. “As long as we do something about Kamoshida, I’m sure we’ll both feel better about bein’ at school.”

“Hopefully…”

“Oh, yeah!” Ryuji pulled out his phone, a smile plastered on his face. “Tell me your number. Chat ID too.”

Ren pulled out his phone and… There, info shared between the two of them.

“Just you wait, Kamoshida…” Ryuji looked serious as he spoke… Ren was starting to feel bad for trying to get out of helping now. “We’re gonna start right away tomorrow. First, let’s hit up those guys that were kept as slaves.”

“Sure, but let’s not say that too loudly out in public…”

Ryuji looked at Ren. “The volleyball rally’s tomorrow, huh? Shit’s recommended by Kamoshida. Makes me wanna gag. But thanks to that, we got no classes in the afternoon, and we can walk around unnoticed.”

“As unnoticed as a punk and a kid with a record can be, sure…”

“Oh come on, dude! Well, I guess we can work out the detail tomorrow, when you aren’t gonna try and poke holes in the plan…” Ryuji put his phone away and looked at Ren’s bowl again. “C’mon, you gotta eat more. There’s tons of ginger here.”

And once again, Ryuji made a move to put more ginger in his bowl. Ren was pretty sure he was going to die of a ginger overdose.

 

\--

 

Ann liked talking to Shiho. She was her best friend and so strong… No matter what she went through, Shiho was always ready to try and be there for her… Ann couldn’t help but admire that about Shiho. Admire and almost envy… Shiho was so strong and she was so…

Shiho let out a sigh and pulled Ann from her thoughts. “I-I haven’t been sleeping well lately… Whenever I close my eyes, I keep thinking about too many things…”

This was a chance for Ann to be strong for Shiho, to do something, but… “Shiho…”

“Nationals are coming up soon, so I keep thinking… Should someone like me really be on the starting lineup…?” Her voice was so strained and full of hurt… Ann had to try and do something.

She gave her the best fake smile she could. “Don’t worry. Just be confident in yourself! Your skills have been recognized! It’s all because you work harder than anyone else!”

Shiho looked at Ann and she could tell her friend wasn’t buying it, at least not fully. “Yeah… Volleyball’s all I have, after all…”

Ann wanted to say something, that Shiho had her, but… “More importantly, was that injury okay? It looked really swollen.”

Shiho shook her head. “No, it’s nothing. It’s normal… Especially since a meet’s coming up…”

Ann wanted to say something, anything to argue that. There was no way what happened to Shiho was normal, but… Could she really say anything? She was just about to try and formulate something when Yuuki Mishima, a boy from her class, approached. He did volleyball too, right?

“Sorry to interrupt, Suzui.” His voice sounded so weak, so small… “Um… Mr. Kamoshida told me to get you.”

“Huh?” Shiho’s fear was obvious. “What does he want…?”

Yuuki looked away. “He didn’t say…”

Shiho looked down, shoulders shaking. “Ann, I…”

She wanted to badly to take Shiho by the hand and run away, but… “It’ll be fine! I bet it’s a meeting about the starting lineup or something!” She was too much of a coward to do anything but deny what she knew was the truth.

Shiho looked at Ann and she felt her heart break before she was given a fake smile. “...Yeah.”

She could feel a fake smile being forced onto her face too.

“Well, I better go…” Shiho stood, face full of discomfort and fear.

“Yup. Good luck!”  _ Please don’t go. _

Shiho gave her a nod before making her way towards Kamoshida’s office, Yuuki following after. Ann couldn’t help but feel she deserved to be alone in that minute.

“Hang in there, Shiho…!”

 

\--

 

When Ren walked in the door, the first thing he heard was Naoya’s voice. It was hard for him to make out what was being said but it sounded like it had something to do with… A health concern, maybe? He moved into the apartment, getting closer to the living room and the source of the voice. It looked like Naoya was… On the phone?

“Look, you and I both know why I collapsed today and both know I don’t need to go to the hospital…” Naoya turned and his eyes went wide. “Look, Amamiya-kun is back and I really need to hang up…”

Naoya hung up and smiled at Ren. “You’re home!”

“You collapsed today?” Ren furrowed his brow and frowned. “Are you okay?”

“I was just really tired, it’s nothing to work about…” Naoya waved a hand in front of his face. “Anyway, I hope school was okay.”

“It was fine, but Toudou-san…”

“I promise, Ren, it’s nothing.” Naoya gave him a smile. “If it ends up being serious, you’ll be the first to know.”

“I--”

His phone went off, pulling his attention away from Naoya. Dammit…

 

**Ry:** _ Hey, I decided to go ahead and message you. _

**Ry:** _ Can you see this? _

**Re:** _ Nope _

**Ry:** _ You SO can! _

**Ry:** _ I’m gonna be counting on you tomorrow, OK _

**Re:** _ Got it, you can count on me. _

**Ry:** _ You’re a bro, man… _

**Ry:** _ Welp, seeya tomorrow! _

**Ry:** _ Let’s sae those guys who’ve been getting abused. You and me. _

 

Ren slipped the phone back in his pocket and… It looked like Naoya had retreated to his room. Great, now he couldn’t question him on the whole collapsing thing… Looked like all he could do was try and ask about it the next morning, then. He needed to get to bed.

He made his way to his room and changed into his pajamas quickly. He was exhausted after spending his time messing around after school… In the Palace and outside of it. Now was time to--

Oh dammit his phone was going off again.

 

**Ry:** _ That thingy on your phone was some red eyeball icon, right? _

**Re:** _ Right. _

**Ry:** _ We ended up at that weird place when we used this nav app, right? _

**Ry:** _ I found it on my phone too… _

**Ry:** _ I don’t even remember installing it! _

**Re:** _ That’s creepy. _

**Ry:** _ For real. What is this thing…? _

**Ry:** _ Think it’s been downloaded on its own somehow? _

**Ry:** _ It’s dangerous to use something without knowing what it is… _

**Ry:** _ But with it, we can go to that weird place, right? _

**Re:** _ Seems like it _

**Ry:** _ Basically, it’s gonna depend on how we use it. _

**Ry:** _ But first we gotta find evidence for those beatings. _

**Ry:** _ I’m counting on you, all right? Don’t go ditching school on me. _

 

He put his phone up at that point and climbed into bed. It was time for him to go to sleep… Maybe things would be better after he did that. Especially since they had a long day ahead of them…

But then he dreamed of blue and chains yet again.

His eyes snapped open and once again he was in the Velvet Room. He didn’t even have to be told to walk up to the cell door this time. Caroline’s glare did the job well enough.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room.” Igor’s deep voice hit his ears as soon as his hands touched the bars. “I thought about resuming our previous conversation tonight. That is why I have summoned you.”

Great, more of Igor talking about things Ren didn’t understand… His favorite.

“What are your thoughts?” A question for Ren was not what he was expecting. “Are you becoming accustomed to this place?”

“Yeah…” Any other thought he had was too gutsy for him to actually say…

“Ah, glad to hear it.” Igor’s grin almost seemed to become… Mocking? “It seems you have nerves of steel. Your rehabilitation determines if ruin can be stopped. Yet, such a feat cannot be done by you alone.”

That was fair, Ren had to say. If it had anything to do with Kamoshida’s Castle… He would be at a loss if he was alone.

“But today, you entered a partnership with someone who awoke to the same power, haven’t you?”

Ren’d brow furrowed. “You mean Ryuji?”

“Involving yourself with others is an important foundation for your recovery. You’ve done well.” That was totally dodging Ren’s question. “That said, I am not advising the formation of superficial relationships. It must not be of frivolity, but a ring of those who would, by morals of faith, lend you their strength.”

What in the hell…?

“On other words, they are bonds with those who have been robbed of their places to belong.” It was as if Igor could read his thoughts, creepy… “The expansion of said ring will, in return, help you mature as well.”

Justine turned to look at Ren. “Personas are the strength of heart… The stronger the bonds that surround you, the more power your Personas will gain.”

Personas? She said that like he had more than Arsene…

Caroline then turned to him. “There are countless people in the city who have talents that a weakling like you doesn’t. You better rack that noggin of yours and get them on your side. We’ll change that into power.”

“Indeed. You should be prepared to use even myself, or your ambitions will not come to fruition.” Was Igor saying he was one of the bonds Ren should form…? “We have a deal then.”

Ren could feel the high expectations of Igor… It was kinda scary, if he was being honest. Could he live up to this? Well, he had to guess that only time would be able to tell that…

“Well, you will understand it all in due time… Continue devoting yourself to your rehabilitation.”

“Now, this conversation’s over!” Caroline’s voice made Ren look over. “Get lost, Inmate!”

And with that, Ren’s vision began to go black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chariot - Rank 1  
> Fool - Rank 1


	7. Volleyball Rally

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~the first sentence is probably how all of u feel w every chapter of this fic~~
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Anyway, poll at the end of the chapter, pls take a look and vote. Also feel free to leave any comments about that/the fic below <3

Ren couldn’t even act surprised when he walked into the kitchen the next morning and found Reiji. Hell, if Ren had to guess… He would say the chances of the person on the phone last night being Reiji were pretty high too. Maybe he was just starting to think of them as a package deal?

“Good morning…” Ren moved for the cupboard before glancing back at Reiji. “You seem to spend a lot of time here for someone with their own apartment.”

“No need for that kinda tone, kid. I just came over because he passed out and I was worried.” Reiji leaned back in his chair. “Besides, my place is kinda lonely with just one person…”

“...Sounds like you should just move in with a friend or something. I’d suggest Toudou-san, but I have the extra room right now…” Ren paused. “Or, I mean, you two shared a bed the other night so you could just do that until I leave.”

“I might be lonely, but not enough to come crash on Toudou’s couch or in his bed every night.” Reiji rolled his eyes. “And before you even try and say anything I’m only here since he passed out yesterday.”

“Well, yeah, but… Do you come over anytime something like that happens?”

“...Our friends and I rotate. It just happened to be my turn this time.” Reiji ran a hand through his hair. “Of all the times it had to be my turn, it was when a kid was gonna be around to try and sass me about it.”

“I’m not trying to sass you. I’m just curious.” Ren finally opened the cover and frowned. “Wait, where’d this food come from.”

“Apparently the guy who picked him up went and bought some groceries for him. He was trying to insist on doing it himself, but looks like he lost that argument.” Reiji finally stood up and moved to lean over Ren’s shoulder. “What all is there, anyway?”

“Should you really eat this food? I mean you probably have plenty at home…”

Reiji sent Ren a glare. “I’m gonna get roped into driving you around enough I can take some of the food.”

“...You know what?” Ren stepped to the side after grabbing a box of cereal. “That’s fair.”

“What are you two talking about…?” Ren turned to the entryway of the kitchen and, well, Naoya seemed to be up but exhausted. “You were being so loud I couldn’t sleep…”

“Do you not work today or something?” Reiji rose an eyebrow. “You’d have to get up anyway.”

“Hanasaki-san gave me the day off. When Sojiro showed up to drag me home she insisted I take a few days off and rest up.” Naoya made his way into the kitchen and sat right in the seat that’d be Reiji’s just a few minutes earlier. “Thankfully, no butterflies to be seen last night, so I caught up on sleep a little.”

“I wish I could say the same, your damn couch hurts my neck.” Reiji put a hand on the back of his neck and rolled it, as if to prove his point. “It’s too short.”

“If you wanna show up in the middle of the night it’s that or sharing with me. I can’t lay out a futon or something at one in the morning, Reiji.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

Ren couldn’t help but snort a bit and shake his head. At least Naoya really did seem fine… If he hadn’t been so willing to cause a back-and-forth Ren would’ve had to have been worried.

 

\--

 

Getting to school after the kind of awkward breakfast (filled with enough bickering that Ren thought he’d somehow woken up back in his hometown) was kind of boring. Not much worth note had happened, as far as Ren was concerned. Maybe the talk about Kamoshida’s teacher team destroying it at the volleyball rally being likely…?

Now he was sitting in class, just waiting… When Sadayo began to speak. “Okay, listen up everyone. As you all know, today is the volleyball rally. Head to the gymnasium once you’ve changed. Got it?”

Well… Ren would have to hope no one wanted to play volleyball with him. That could get in the way of his and Ryuji’s… Investigation. Well, here’s hoping and all that, right?

As he changed, a frown on his face, he started thinking. Was Ryuji gonna actually be able to remember all of the faces of the players? He didn’t see that as all that possible, if he was being honest. Sure, Ryuji was serious about this, but no one could memorize so many kids, right?

...Or maybe it was just him.

Well, whatever. He finished changing and walked into the hallway, soon enough running into Ryuji. “Into the gym, then?”

“Yeah, will sit around there for a while, then leave when we get the chance.” Ryuji gave him a sure nod as he led the way. “We’ll talk more about it later, though.”

“Got it.”

Soon enough, they were seated on the gym floor, watching Kamoshida’s teacher team go against their class. A kid who barely registered with Ren most of the time (Yuuki Mishima maybe) fell back when a spike hit his arms. Damn… Kamoshida must’ve been using a lot of force to be able to do that.

The teachers didn’t seem to care that much, though. In fact, they were laughing and cheering for it. They were that happy to beat a bunch of high schoolers…?

“Yeah, man you still got it, coach!” The teacher who’d been in the middle of the high five gave him a large smile.

“Thanks!” Kamoshida turned back towards the students. “Let’s go for one more!”

...Too bad none of the students looked like they were into that idea.

Then again, most of them were ready to jump right back into it. Yuuki, however, let out a sigh and started spacing out. That was weird… Was there a reason he didn’t want to participate? Ren was sure that spike had hurt, but he was sure he’d want to try again if he was him….

Well, whatever… Ren found his gaze moving over to Takamaki. Unlike the other girls, all cheerin their hearts out as they stood, she was sitting and staring at some hair. Just twirling it in her fingers over and over…

That wasn’t his business, though… So he turned his attention back to the game for all of one second before Ryuji spoke up.

“She still sticks out, huh?” Ren turned to look at Ryuji. “She hasn’t changed a bit.”

Ryuji turned to look at him, stretching out his arms as if he hadn’t just been staring at Takamaki and talking about her like he knew her. Okay, sure, Ren would play along with that obvious change. Suuuure.

“Pretty boring, right?” He turned to look at Ren with a grin and he couldn’t help but return it.

“Yeah.”

Ren looked between Takamaki and Ryuji with a frown. Did they have some sort of history together than Ren was missing or…? There had to be a reason Ryuji was trying to act like he hadn’t been watching her a few minutes before, right?

The screams of the girls turned Ren’s attention right back onto the game though. Looked like Kamoshida was spiking right through a line of three guys trying to block him and… The ball slammed right into Yuuki’s face, making the poor boy fall back with a thud.

Kamoshida seemed to pause for just a second before ducking under the net and rushing towards Yuuki. “Sorry! Hey, are you alright?” He looked around at the kidd gathering around. “Someone, take him to the nurse’s office!”

With that, he lifted Yuuki up just enough for a student to take over and drag him off towards the nurse. Ren would think it was nice and all if he hadn’t seen Kamoshida’s Shadow, but… He had, so screw him.

Ryuji seemed to be thinking the same thing, the volleyball rolling to a stop next to him. “He’ll pay soon enough.” And with that, he threw the ball back to the players.

Kamoshida sent them both a look for just a minute before turning around with a smile. “Alright, let’s resume the match!”

 

\--

 

Soon enough, they were finally done and Ryuji led Ren right to the courtyard, a frown on his face. “That asshole’s actin’ like a king over here too… Get to know each other better, my ass. It’s just a one-man show for him to stroke his ego.”

“Taking out a kid who wasn’t trying, too… Looked like he wanted to make sure he looked better than kids who gave it there all…” That was just a guess from Ren, but he felt it was worth putting out there.

“Yeah! And how he acted like he was worried about Mishima after he did that? What an abusive d-bag…!” Ryuji shook his head and tried to calm himself. “...Well, anyways. Now’s our chance to go look for the guys were saw were slaves yesterday.”

Ren nodded. “If you have the faces, I have the sharp eyes to point them out.”

“Of course I remember what they look like! We just gotta look for the faces we sat at the castle, anyway. All the members of the team should be here today.” Ryuji’s face scrunched in anger. “I’ll be sure to find someone to spill about Kamoshida’s physical abuse. Just you wait, asshole.”

“I don’t remember their faces, so I hope you’re good at descriptions….”

“Like I said, don’t worry! I remember them clearly.” Ryuji gave him a proud grin. “...The first one that popped out was a guy from class D, so let’s start from there. That’s your class. Hopefully you can get him to talk without any issues. People have been avoiding’ me lately, so…”

Ren swallowed hard. He was pretty sure kids were avoiding him too. Did Ryuji just not realize that or something? “Umm…”

“Oh yeah, you’re kinda in the same boat, huh.” Ryuji sighed. “Oh well, come on dude, we can do this!”

 

\--

 

Naoya had agreed to stay in bed all day, but with Ren and Reiji nowhere to be seen… He figured he could risk going out for a bit. He had something he needed to do, after all. Before Philemon showed up again and started talking in cryptic speak expecting Naoya to know what it meant.

Hell, all Naoya really understood even now was “find the Velvet Room and see what’s going on.” Apparently things were muddy for Philemon as far as that went and instead of doing something to look into it himself he decided to send Naoya. Well, alright, sure, but he could’ve used more. Like how muddy was it, what that could mean…

Just prepare Naoya for whatever was coming, you know? He didn’t want to risk a demon ripping his neck open if it ended up being a trap set up for someone or something. Was that too much to ask, or…?

Oh, who was he kidding? It probably was too much to ask for knowing his luck. All he could really do now was try and find the room asap. He’d take a peek inside, get knocked out by Philemon again and explain what was going on, and then be done with it.

“Please let me find it fast…” He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked down every alley and peeked into every store. There had to be a door leading to it somewhere, right?

He knew he would be able to find one, he just didn’t know _where_. It wasn’t like whatever was happening to the Velvet Room would try and hide it from previous guests, right? That would just be silly and stupid and… Bad.

“Should I call Eriko?” He was pretty sure she would visit Igor sometimes… So maybe she would know where he could find an entrance… “I think that might be my best bet--”

His phone went off and Naoya frowned. Who in the hell…?  _ Reiji _ .

“Hello?” He could play himself off as still in bed, right? “Why are you calling me? Aren’t you working?”

“Making sure you’re still in bed.” There was something about his tone that made him want to drop the phone and run.

“No need to do that. I know you’d yell at me if I did… You would probably call the others and get them to yell at me for it or something.” Naoya put his free hand on his hip. “I can’t even imagine getting nagged by all of you at once…”

“So you wouldn’t even  _ dream  _ of leaving your apartment?”

“Yeah.”

“Toudou.”

“...Yeah?”

“Turn around.”

Naoya knew then that he was  _ so  _ dead. “You’re right behind me, aren’t you?”

“Yep.”

Naoya swallowed hard, his hands falling to his side as he looked back and gave Reiji an awkward smile. “How nice of you to check up on me…”

“Uh huh.” Reiji stuffed his phone into his pocket and grabbed Naoya by the arm. “Maybe don’t come around here when you want to sneak around and it’s my lunch break.”

Naoya sighed, he knew when he’d lost and there was no way he hadn’t lost now. “I’ll keep that in mind, you big stick in the mud.”

Reiji rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

 

\--

 

After nothing but failure, both when going it with Ryuji and when going it alone, Ren was ready to head home. But he knew Ryuji wanted to talk about it, so to the courtyard he went. In a sad bid to try and make sure no one talked to him he just kinda… Stared at one of the vending machines.

...Maybe people would think he was just really serious about drinks.

“Can I talk to you for a sec…?” He turned at the sound of Ann Takamaki’s voice. Why was she here? 

“What is it?” Guess he could hear her out.

“It’ll be quick.” She looked down for a second before looking back with a glare. “Anyway, what’s with you? Like, the reason you were late the other day being a lie and all… There’s that weird rumor about you too.”

“Whaddya want with him?” Ann’s eyes widened just a bit as she turned towards Ryuji’s approaching voice.

After she’d fully turned to look at him, though, it looked like she recovered. “Right back at you. You’re not even in our class.”

“...We just happened to get to know each other.”

Ann didn’t seem to buy that, if the angry arm cross meant anything. “What’re you planning on doing to Mr. Kamoshida?”

“Huh?!” Ryuji’s eyes went wide, though the shock was replaced with anger. “...I see. I getcha. You’re all buddy-buddy with Kamoshida after all.”

Ann scoffed. “This has nothing to do with you, Sakamoto!”

Ren frowned. “Hadn’t you just asked him about Kamoshida…?”

“Stay out of it!” Ann sent him a glare and he held up his hands in mock surrender. Okay then. “I wasn’t talking about the whole conversation anyway!”

“Yeah? If you found out what he’s been doin’ behind your back, you’d dump him right away.” 

Ann looked taken aback. “Behind my back…? What’s that supposed to mean…?”

Ryuji shared a look with Ren. “You wouldn’t get it.”

Ann shook her head. “Anyway, people are already talking about you two. I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but no one’s gonna help you.” Her anger was replaced with what looked like… Hopelessness almost? “I’m warning you, just in case. That’s all.”

And without saying or waiting for another word, she walked off. Ren wasn’t sure there would have been anything he could say to an expression like that, anyway… He really wasn’t the best at words, after all.

Ryuji kicked at the ground. “Why’s she gotta be so aggressive all the time…?”

“You know her?” After his staring at her earlier and this, Ren couldn’t help but think there was some sort of history. He was curious to find out what, though.

Ryuji turned to look at him. “We just went to the same middle school. Anyways, that’s not what we’re here to talk about.”

“Oh yeah, leads on Kamoshida…” He’d gotten side-tracked.

“I had no luck on my end. What about you? Did anything like someone’s name turn up?”

Oh, oh. Ren had something for this! “Mishima, I believe?”

“Huh…?” His eyes went wide.

“Something about him getting special coaching…” Ren grimaced. “I think we both know what that probably means.”

“...Special “coaching,” huh?” Ryuji thought about it for a second. “True. I always see the guy covered in bruises. Let’s go talk to him before he leaves then.”

With that, Ryuji turned on his heel and started off towards the front of the building (at least, that was where Ren was pretty sure they were going). They didn’t even pause to change, even though Ren was pretty sure volleyball practice was happening today… Maybe he wanted to be waiting and ready to catch him--

Or Yuuki would be on his way for the door when they got there, leaving Ryuji and Ren to run and catch up with him. At least he stopped when he saw them? 

“Hey, got a second?”

Yuuki turned to look at Ryuji, confusion clear. “Sakamoto…?” He looked at Ren. “And you, too…?!”

“Didn’t you see us and stop…?”

Ryuji shook his head. “That doesn’t matter. We just wanna chat, Mishima.” He leaned a bit closer, arms crossed. “Kamoshida’s been “coaching” you, huh? You sure it’s not just physical abuse?”

Yuuki took a step back. “Certainly not!”

Ryuji shook his head. “What’re you talkin’ all polite for? Anyways… We saw him spike you today. Right in the face.”

“That was just because I’m not good at the sport…” That sounded like such a forced excuse, it wasn’t even funny.

“...Still, that doesn’t explain all the other bruises you’ve got.” Looked like Ryuji would let that go to push for more information… Smart.

Yuuki’s head snapped up. “They’re from practice…!”

Ryuji was remaining surprisingly calm for how much Yuuki was denying. “Is he forcin’ you to keep quiet?”

“That’s…” Yuuki looked away. 

“What’s going on here.” Oh hell, Kamoshida was coming their way. “Mishima, isn’t it time for practice?”

The boy couldn’t even look him in the eye. “I-I’m not feeling well today…”

“What? Maybe you’re better off quitting then.” Ren’s eyebrows shot up at Kamoshida’s comment. Emotional manipulation too…? “You’re never going to improve that crappy form unless you show up to practice.”

Ryuji wasted no time stepping towards Kamoshida. “Didn’t you hear? He ain’t feelin’ well!”

Kamoshida didn’t even seem phased when he looked back at Yuuki. “Well, Mishima? Are you coming to practice or not?”

“...I’ll go.”

Kamoshida was happy about that for sure. He stepped up to Ryuji, getting in his face. “As for you, any more trouble and you’ll be gone from this school for sure.”

Ryuji looked away, clicking his tongue. “Bastard…”

Kamoshida sent Ren a glare. “Same goes for you. Didn’t the principal tell you to keep in line?”

“I was just leaving, actually.” He so badly wanted to sass him, but he really didn’t have the guts…

He shook his head with a scoff. “Just don’t get in the way of my practice. All these unsettling rumors are making the students anxious, after all.”

“That’s your own goddamn fault.” Ryuji sent him a glare, but Ren took a step forward to pull him back.

“I’d never do anything to purposefully make people anxious,  _ sir _ .”

“Looks like your friend knows when to back down.” Kamoshida turned his gaze to Yuuki. “Let’s go, Mishima.” He turned around, but paused to speak again. “Shujin Academy is a place where those with aspirations come to learn. Unworthy students like yourselves don’t have any right to be here. Get with the program!”

Yuuki’s head hung low. “Yes, sir.”

With that, Kamoshida began to walk off and Ryuji took an angry step forward. “That asshole… He’s gonna pay for this…!”

Yuuki shook his head. “...There’s no point.”

Ryuji looked back at him, eyes full of anger. “Huh?!”

“Proving that he’s physically abusing us… It’s meaningless. Everybody knows… The principal, our parents… They all know, and they all keep quiet about it.” Yuuki’s words made Ren’s skin crawl.

Ryuji turned to the boy, eyes wide. “This has gotta be a joke…”

Yuuki sent him a glare. “...Don’t be a pain. You don’t understand what I’m going through. Shouldn’t you of all people know that nothing’s going to help…?!”

Ryuji flinched at the words… That had been a sore spot, then? Ren would keep that in mind. The fact Yuuki ran off so quickly after Ryuji reacted too… Was he afraid of Ryuji lashing out or something?

“Dammit…”

Ren looked to his friend. “What now?”

Ryuji looked over at him, almost seeming… Deflated. “...I’ll try one more time to persuade the other guys. That’s… All I can do.”

 

\--

 

“Kido-san…” Ren rose an eyebrow when he walked into the apartment. “You look angry… Or, I guess angrier than usual?”

Reiji looked over at Ren and sighed. “Maybe I do… It’s Toudou’s fault, though.”

“What did Toudou-san do?”

“He tried to sneak around after we both left… When he’d agreed to stay in bed today…” Reiji’s voice trailed off into a mumbled. “Goddammit… I’ll figure out what that moron was told to do and do it myself…”

“Was Toudou-san told to do something?” Ren crossed his arms, partially out of fear of being yelled at. “I mean… Uh…”

“Don’t worry about it kid, you weren’t supposed to hear that anyway…” Reiji made his way for the door, patting his shoulder. “Just make sure that idiot stays inside tonight, okay?”

Ren gave an awkward nod. “Okay… Is he awake right now?”

“No, he should be asleep, so you can go get ready for bed or whatever. Just keep an ear out.”

“Got it.”

“Thanks.” And with that, Reiji walked out the door, closing it behind him.

Ren shook his head with a sigh, was he the one taking care of his guardian or something? It was probably too early to tell, but he felt that might be the case… Well, there wasn’t much he could do, right? Just try and make sure Naoya didn’t leave him home alone…

“Whatever.” He made his way into his room, exhausted from running around all day. “I should get some sleep…”

He changed into his pajamas quickly and made the way for his bed… Only for his phone to go off.

 

**Ry:** Hey, this don’t make any damn sense.

**Ry:** The principal and even the parents know about the abuse.

**Ry:** Why ain’t anybody speaking up?!

**Re:** Because volleyball.

**Ry:** Yeah…

**Ry:** It’s basically because Kamoshida made the volleyball team famous, yeah?

**Ry:** Even so, that don’t give him the right to do whatever he wants!

**Ry:** He’s beating kids up, and all they’re allowed to do is endure.

**Ry:** And that follower of his doesn’t give one single shit…

**Re:** Who are you talking about? 

**Ry:** Ann Takamaki. You met her in the courtyard, remember?

**Ry:** You should know her. I mean, she’s in your class dude.

**Re:** Oh my bad. Didn’t think of her as his follower.

**Ry:** Trust me, as far as I know she is.

**Ry:** Ugh! What a load of bull!

**Ry:** I can’t let it end like this.

**Ry:** I’m gonna try and find someone who knows about what’s going on with Kamoshida during break tomorrow.

**Ry:** Just you watch. I ain’t giving up!

 

With that, Ren placed his phone into his pocket and sighed. Looked like they had a long road ahead, huh? At least Ryuji was ready and willing to do basically anything… Someone would need to do that if they were gonna make it anywhere with this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Polls That Make You Go Hm](http://www.strawpoll.me/14885231)
> 
>  
> 
> ALSO THANKS FOR 70 KUDOS WHAT THE H E C K

**Author's Note:**

> Also I love Naoya Toudou? Almost glad he'll never get a canon name since I don't want to even think of a world where he might end up "Jihei" bc I like Naoya.


End file.
